Nitish Kumar's oath after Chhat on November 20

Nitish Kumar looks all set to take the oath once again as Bihar chief minister at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan after Diwali and Chhat Puja on November 20.

Mr Kumar held a brainstorming session with close aides and other senior members of the Grand Alliance at his official residence here Tuesday to decide the strength of his Cabinet. Sources said campaign strategist Prashant Kishore is also playing a key role in this exercise.

Senior state JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the Grand Alliance leaders would be consulted before the names were announced. On the timing, JD(U) state chief Basisth Narayan Singh said: “There are two important festivals — Diwali and Chhat, which ends November 18, and it is most likely that Nitish Kumar may take the oath after these two festivals on November 20.”

Sources said 16 MLAs each from the JD(U) and RJD and five from the Congress might be inducted into the new Cabinet. The formula that is being worked out by the Grand Alliance is that “for every five MLAs, there will be one minister”, the sources said. The Grand Alliance won 178 out of 243 seats in the Assembly, while the BJP-led NDA got just 58 seats.

“The meeting is still going on but around 35-38 MLAs are likely to take the oath with Nitish Kumar on November 20”, a JD(U) source said.

The names of those likely to become ministers include Sadanand Singh, Ashok Choudhary, Ashok Kumar, Vijay Shankar Dubey, Bhawna Jha/Amita Bhushan from the Congress. From the RJD, the names of Abdul Bari Sidiqui, Illyas Hussain, Ram Chandra Purbey, Mudrika Yadav, Alok Mehta, Samir Mahaseth, Shiv Chandra Ram, Sri Narayan Yadav, Bhai Virendra, Ramanand Yadav, Akhtarul Imam Shahin, Abdul Gafoor, Chadrika Yadav, Chandra Shekhar, Raj Ballabh Yadav, Prema Choudhary and Surendra Yadav are circulating. The JD(U) too seems to have finalised its list: besides Nitish Kumar himself, the names include Lallan Singh, Vijay Choudhary, Vijendra Yadav, Ramanand Singh, Shyam Rajak, Shrawan Kumar/Hari Narayan Singh, Ravi Jyoti, Narendra Narayan Yadav, Lacy Singh, Ranju Geeta, Bima Bharti, Naushad Alam, Sunil Choudhary, Jai Singh and Vinod Yadav.

Mr Kumar has already given his consent to the names that were proposed by RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. When asked about the inclusion of Lalu Yadav’s son into the Cabinet, a senior RJD leader said: “Both leaders will soon announce the names, but we have not been informed anything about Lalu Yadav’s sons.” However, speculation is rife that Tej Pratap and Tejaswi may get important roles in the new government.

On Monday a flurry of meetings had taken place at Lalu Yadav’s residence, that was also attended by Mr Prashant Kishore, and on Tuesday the RJD supremo handed over a list of 16 RJD members to join the Cabinet. Mr Kumar later met Congress state chief Ashok Choudhary and decided to include five members from that party. Another meeting with Lalu Yadav on Cabinet matters is likely to be held after Diwali.