New Delhi: Hours after breaking up from BJP, JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar dialled up Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former party president Rahul Gandhi to thank them for their support in the change of guard that took place in Bihar on Tuesday.
The crucial call came a day ahead of the oath-taking ceremony of the new JD (U)-RJD-Congress-Left parties grand alliance in Bihar on Wednesday. The grand alliance claims to have 160 MLAs in the 243-member House.
According to sources, this was Nitish Kumar’s second telephonic conversation with Sonia Gandhi in which he assured the Congress chief that the grand old party’s interests would be taken care of in the eastern state.
The sources further revealed that as part of the plan, the Congress, which has 19 MLAs in the Bihar Assembly, could get three or four ministerial berths, including the politically significant post of deputy chief minister. RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav is most likely to get the post of deputy chief minister, along with the crucial Home Ministry, as per the regional party’s quota.
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Out of the three or four ministers that the Congress may get, Nitish Kumar is keen to have the deputy CM from the Muslim community as part of the grand old party’s quota. The Congress names who may get a place in the new Nitish Kumar cabinet include MM Jha, Ajeet Sharma, Shakeel Ahmed Khan and Rajesh Ram. Congress could get the revenue, education, excise and some other departments, sources said .
According to sources involved in the change of guard in Bihar, the Congress may press for the post of Speaker also but is ready to negotiate with the RJD, which too is eyeing the House chair. The JD(U) too may have similar aspirations. Congress insiders said as the rift in the former ruling JD-U-BJP coalition unfolded over the past few days, the AICC managers were in touch with both the JD(U) and RJD leaders to implement a smooth change of guard.
Congress insiders said the grand alliance was finalised after the Congress high command gave a go-ahead for the JD(U)-BJP split, which was officially announced on Tuesday. Before that RJD founder and former chief minister, Lalu Prasad worked out the plan along with Nitish Kumar. This is the second coming of the grand alliance which had come to power in 2015 when the Congress had 27 MLAs and had got four cabinet posts as part of its quota.
Congress state leaders felt the sharing of power would certainly boost the party’s prospects in the eastern state and would also be a message to the BJP, which has been targeting the Gandhi family over the National Herald case, which the grand old party claims is bogus. The move would also boost opposition unity, they said.
