NEW DELHI: BJP and JDU are resisting their ally LJP(RV)’s demand for deputy chief minister position in the new Bihar govt, which will be sworn in on Thursday. Leaders of the two main NDA parties held long discussions on Tuesday, with sources indicating that BJP may retain the post of assembly Speaker. There is also a buzz that JDU, too, is interested in having the Speaker’s chair, but sources said it was more an expression of aspirations as the two allies worked out the details of the new govt. It is learnt that Union minister Chirag Paswan-led LJP(RV), which has 19 MLAs and brings crucial Dalit votes to the alliance, is keen on having a deputy CM from its quota. BJP has two deputy CMs in the outgoing govt and is expected to keep the post to itself in the new dispensation as well. The name of Arun Bharti, the member of Lok Sabha from Jamui and Chirag’s brother-in-law, was doing the rounds in political circles as LJP’s choice for the position of deputy CM. Home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda held talks with JDU working president Sanjay Jha and Lalan Singh, the regional party’s presence in the Modi cabinet, as the composition of the new govt is likely to be somewhat different from the outgoing one due to the rise in JDU’s numbers and entry of two new parties – LJP(RV) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha. No dispute, just different points of view: NDA netaIt is natural for allies to have different points of view in thrashing out the details of a govt with five parties. But there is no dispute,” a key functionary said.National Democratic Alliance won a thumping majority by bagging 202 seats in the 243-member assembly. BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while JDU is close behind with 85. This contrasts starkly with the outgoing assembly in which BJP had 80 MLAs and JDU 43. This reflected in the power equation in the current govt in which BJP has 21 ministers as against 14 from its allies, including Nitish and an Independent MLA.This is for the first time that BJP and JDU have nearly equal strength. Until its number declined sharply in 2020, JDU was the dominant partner since they won their first state poll together in 2005. However, BJP has always endorsed Nitish’s leadership.HAM(S) and RLM, having five and four MLAs each, are expected to get one berth in the new govt, while Paswan’s party may bag two to three ministerial positions.BJP has two deputy CMs, one Kushwaha (OBC) and one Bhumihar (upper caste), in the outgoing govt. The party on Tuesday named an observer and two co-observers for the meeting of its legislature party to elect their leader. The choice of its three central leaders is rich on social messaging with Uttar Pradesh deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, a prominent OBC face of the party in the state, being joined by Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, a Dalit, and former Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, who comes from most backward Nishad caste.Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary, who has seen as a rapid rise in BJP, is current legislature party leader and is being seen as a frontrunner for the position again.A joint meeting of NDA parties is expected to elect Nitish as their leader on Wednesday. PM Narendra Modi and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah besides other NDA heavyweights will be joining the oath-taking ceremony to be held in Patna’s sprawling Gandhi Maidan in the presence of a big crowd.
