PATNA: JD (U) parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha's dream of becoming deputy chief minister of Bihar was shattered on Wednesday when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ruled out the possibility of one more deputy chief minister in the state.
Talking to media persons during his 'Samdhan Yatra' in Madhubani, Nitish said that there was no trend of having two deputy chief ministers in the state barring last time when BJP had made its two leaders deputy CMs and forced him to become chief minister.
Nitish's 'straight no' to Kushwaha is likely to persuade Kushwaha to take any firm step towards his future politics. Kushwaha has been sulking ever since he was denied a ministerial berth in the Nitish cabinet. He merged his RLSP with JD (U) in 2021 and was subsequently made the party's parliamentary board chairman.
Nitish also made it clear that there would not be any minister from the JD (U) quota. He, however, disclosed that two posts of ministers that fell vacant after the termination of Sudhakar Singh and Kartikeya alias Master ji from the council of ministers would be filled.
He also hinted at the induction of one or two more ministers from Congress. Recently Congress state president and MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh met Nitish and held talks with him on the expansion of the cabinet to accommodate two more Congress ministers.
The grand old party has two ministers in the grand alliance government. The party has been demanding two more ministerial berths on the basis of the strength of its MLAs in the state assembly. The GA comprises seven parties.
Kushwaha had said earlier that it was the sole discretion of the chief minister, who to induct into the cabinet. “I have merged my party with JD(U) and leaving no stone unturned to strengthen the organisation,” he had told media persons.
He had in fact hinted at good news after 'Makar Sankranti'. “I am not a sanyasi,” he had told the media recently.
Sources said that Kushwaha's name as deputy CM was not accepted by RJD. RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwari said, “Is it possible to have a chief minister and a deputy CM from a smaller party?.”
Tiwari intended that JD(U)'s strength in the state assembly is almost half of RJD.