PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to visit Delhi on February 7 amid reports of discontentment within ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the allocation of portfolios to ministers. The newly formed NDA government will have to undergo the floor test in Bihar Assembly on February 12.
During the visit, the Bihar CM is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda during his two-day stay in the national capital.
It will be Nitish’s first visit to Delhi after taking oath as Chief Minister of the NDA government on January 28.
The meeting between Nitish and the Prime Minister along with other BJP stalwarts assumed significance in the wake of the floor test of the newly formed NDA government scheduled for February 12.
Both deputy chief ministers—Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha—are already camping in Delhi.
Soon after meeting the PM, Samrat Choudhary, who is also state chief of the saffron party, told media persons, “Rashtriya Janata Dal is trying horse trading in the state ahead of floor test. But they don’t know it a government of two coalition partners while Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party has extended its support.”
He said the NDA has already submitted the letters of support of 128 MLAs to the governor at the time of staking its claim to form a new government headed by Nitish. The magic figure is 122 MLAs.
“When we have a majority on our own, why should we need the support of Congress MLAs,” he asked.
He exuded confidence that the NDA government would prove its majority on the floor of the House on the scheduled date. He also rubbished the claim of Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) that it would not be easier to prove its majority in the House.
Former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had earlier said, “Khela hona abhi banki hai.”
Incumbent Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary has refused to step down from the post ever after a notice served on him after collapse of grand alliance government.
Apprehending poaching of its MLAs, Congress has already shifted its 16 out of 19 MLAs to Hyderabad. They will be brought to Patna on the day the new government has to prove its majority in the assembly. The Congress has 19 MLAs in the 243-member assembly.
Meanwhile, former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) patron Jitan Ram Manjhi expressed his strong displeasure over allocation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Welfare department to his son and minister Santosh Kumar Suman.
“When I was a minister, I too was allocated the same department that my son has been given in present NDA government. This is not fair. Can’t he handle other departments like others?” Manjhi said in utter displeasure over allocation of the department.
He has also crated a flutter in political circles by demanding two cabinet berths in the Nitish cabinet. He urged the BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and Nityanand Rai to accommodate Anil Kumar Singh in the council of ministers.
He had earlier claimed that he was offered the chief minister’s post by grand alliance for lending its support to them. “But I turned down their offer and decided to remain with NDA,” he had told the media.
