BJP forces Nitish to eat humble pie, smoulders aspirations of its leaders
LJP's Chirag Paswan also left high & dry, with uncle getting into Union Cabinet
On the middle slot new emerges a strong BJP stalwart Ravi Shankar Prasad, who had aspired to be Bihar CM after the recent state elections
The union cabinet reshuffle effected on Wednesday, is likely to hest up scene in Patna. BJP forced Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to eat humble pie as he accepted symbolic representation for his party JD(U) in cabinet which he had rejected two years back while at the same time BJP also smothered aspirations of its leaders from Bihar to become minister in the union cabinet.
It is still fresh in memory how Chief Minister Mr Kumar who was also then national president of JD(U) had rejected an offer by the BJP for symbolic representation
in the union cabinet after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Mr Kumar was camping in New Delhi and had exerted pressure for proportional representation of JD(U) in cabinet during formation of new government after Lok Sabha elections but could not succeed as the BJP did not consider his demand.
On his return from New Delhi, Mr Kumar had told media persons at Patna Airport that JD(U) was in favour of proportional representation for his party in cabinet but BJP leadership did not accept it. JD(U) was not inclined to accept symbolic representation, so the party had refused to consider the offer of one berth in cabinet, he had said but clarified that JD(U) would continue to support NDA government at the Centre.
When reports of of possible cabinet expansion at the centre poured in, media persons had asked Chief Minister Mr Kumar on Tuesday how many leaders from JD(U) would get cabinet berths. Mr Kumar, true to his style, ducked the question saying he was not aware of nitty-gritty and JD(U) president RCP Singh had been authorised to take call on the issue. When pressed further for the reply, Mr Kumar said that what had happened in the year 2019, was an incident of the past.
Speculations were rife in political circles about induction of JD(U) president RCP Singh and senior party leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh getting berths in cabinet. Some other JD(U) leaders were also in race for ministers of state rank in Union Cabinet. Neither Chief Minister Mr Kumar nor JD(U) president Mr Singh diverged the formula till last moment when the list of of ministers to be inducted in Union Cabinet was officially released hours before the swearing-in ceremony, surprising everyone including political analysts.
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