Amidst the Bihar cabinet expansion, top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a meeting with the leaders of the party’s Bihar unit on Tuesday. According to sources quoted by news agency PTI, this has happened a few days after the JD(U) parted ways and formed a new government in the state with the support of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Sources told PTI that the central leadership is likely to deliberate on the BJP’s future course of action and the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, adding that organizational changes also come up for discussion.
Today the meeting will be presided over by BJP National President JP Nadda and General Secretary BL Santosh will also be present. Sources told PTI that Union ministers Ashwini Choubey, Giriraj Singh and Nityanand Rai and senior party leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Sushil Modi are expected to attend the meeting today.
In addition to these, BJP Bihar unit President Sanjay Jaiswal, former deputy chief ministers Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi and former minister in the state government Shahnawaz Hussain are also expected to attend the meeting.
The two-member cabinet of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav will be expanded today. Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) recently formed an alliance with Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to form the government in Bihar.
About 30 members from different constituents of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ or grand alliance will be included. According to highly placed sources, the swearing-in will take place inside the Raj Bhavan at 11.30 am.
Among the invitees could be RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, who was expected to reach here on Monday night, though party sources claim he will arrive on Tuesday by a morning flight.
The state cabinet can have a maximum of 36 ministers, including the chief minister. With the ministers joining on Tuesday, some berths are expected to remain vacant for future expansion.
The JD(U) is likely to retain most of its ministers in the previous NDA government, including Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Ashok Choudhary, Bijendra Yadav, Shravan Kumar and Leshi Singh.
This may leave out some who are considered close to BJP and former JD(U) president RCP Singh, who has been accused of trying to split the party at the behest of the former ally.
(with inputs from agencies)
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