PATNA: Suspense over Bihar’s next chief minister is set to end on Tuesday even as deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary has emerged as a frontrunner in the race to the post. A woman leader’s name is also doing rounds for the same.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new government of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under the BJP’s first chief minister will be held at Lok Bhavan on April 15, a day after incumbent chief minister Nitish Kumar tenders his resignation from the post.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are likely to attend the swearing in of the saffron party-led government in the state. Preparations for the function have already started in Lok Bhavan. The BJP has convened its legislature party meeting to elect its leader on Tuesday, thus putting an end to the suspense over the state’s next chief minister.
Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi said, “A meeting of the BJP legislature party will be held at 3 pm on Tuesday at the party office to elect its leader, with Union Agriculutre Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan attending as central observer.”
Prior to this, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will chair the last cabinet meeting and subsequently submit his resignation from the post to the governor, Lt General (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, at Lok Bhawan. The NDA legislators’ meeting will be held at 4 pm in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, in which selection of the legislature party will take place.
It will be the first time that the BJP will have its own chief minister in Bihar. The BJP is the single largest party in the 243-member assembly with 89 MLAs, followed closely by the JD(U) with 85 MLAs.
Chouhan, who has been appointed as the observer, will supervise the election of the leader of the NDA legislature party in a meeting to be held on Tuesday. JD(U) will also hold a legislative party meeting on the same day.
Notably, five parties – BJP, JD(U), LJP(RV), HAM and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM – are part of the NDA government in Bihar. In the new government, Nitish’s son, Nishant Kumar, is likely to be inducted as deputy chief minister.
