Bihar minister Deepak Prakash (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Bihar minister Deepak Prakash was on Tuesday nominated to the state Legislative Council, days after the Supreme Court questioned his continuance in the cabinet without being a legislator.According to a gazette notification, governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd.) nominated Prakash to the vacant seat left by BJP MLC Devesh Kumar’s resignation.Prakash was first inducted into the then Nitish Kumar-led Bihar cabinet in November last year and was recently re-inducted into the BJP-led government headed by Samrat Choudhary. On both occasions, he was not a member of either House of the state legislature.His father, Upendra Kushwaha, whose Rashtriya Lok Morcha is a constituent of the BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), thanked the BJP leadership but insisted the nomination was unrelated to the court proceedings.“I express my gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president Nitin Nabin. We shall work to take Bihar forward,” Kushwaha told reporters, according to PTI.
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“People file petitions for all sorts of things. When Deepak Prakash had first become a minister, the NDA had in principle decided that he would be sent to the Legislative Council in due course,” he added.BJP sources, however, admitted Kumar had “sacrificed” his seat to accommodate Prakash. Kumar, whose tenure had less than a year left, resigned on July 31, saying it was a “voluntary decision”.Last week, while hearing a petition challenging Prakash’s continuance as minister, the Supreme Court raised the “legal question” of “how long can you have an unelected minister”.Under constitutional rules, a person appointed as a minister must become a member of either House of the legislature within six months.
