Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Sunday said the new NDA government in Bihar will be formed before November 22, when the current Assembly's tenure expires.
"A sense of clarity will come over government formation. I think by tonight, I will speak with senior Union Ministers. The blueprint will be ready by today or tomorrow," he told reporters.
Paswan earlier said the government would be formed under the leadership of JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar, the longest-serving chief minister of the state.
Paswan also dismissed Jan Suraaj spokesperson Pavan Varma's serious allegations that funds from the World Bank meant for other projects were 'diverted' for the Bihar polls by the central government and had been distributed to women voters.
He also accused Varma of making 'empty claims' and questioned his source.
"Where do they get this data and information from?... If you have any facts, present them, and the government will respond," Paswan told reporters.
Earlier, in an interview with ANI, Pavan Varma said, "The public debt in Bihar is at present 4,06,000 crore. The interest per day is 63 crore. The treasury is empty. The amount of Rs 10,000 given to women in the State was taken out from Rs 21,000 crore, which came from the World Bank for some other project. An hour before the moral code of conduct for the polls, Rs 14,000 crore were taken out and distributed to 1.25 crore women in the State," he had alleged.
However, he claimed that these allegations may or may not be true and sought forgiveness if the information was wrong.
"But if it is true, then the question arises as to how far this is ethical. The government can divert funds and later give explanations," he said.
Despite an extensive campaign and high hopes for an impressive debut, Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party failed to open its account.
In a remarkable feat, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 89 seats, and the Janata Dal (United) finished a close second with 85 seats in the Assembly polls. The NDA has crossed the 200-mark for the second time. Earlier, it had won 206 seats in the 2010 Assembly polls.
The other allies of the ruling coalition, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJPRV) secured 19 seats, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS) won five, and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four seats.
In a major setback, Mahagathbandhan secured only 35 seats. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won five seats, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got one seat.
