Bihar Cabinet Expansion On August 16, Nitish Govt To Face Floor Test On Aug 24

After Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) ditched BJP to join hands with old allies of the Mahagathbandhan, including RJD, Congress and Left, the Bihar cabinet expansion is likely to take place on August 16, news agency ANI cited its sources as saying.

Later in the month, the Bihar government, led by Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav, will undergo a floor test to prove majority in the Legislative Assembly on August 24.

JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the eighth time on Wednesday (August 10) and and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister for the second time.

Earlier this week, Kumar sprung a surprise on its coalition partner BJP when it parted ways with the saffron party accusing it of trying to break the JD(U). On Tuesday, he joined hands with political opponents RJD, Congress and Left, who are part of the Mahagathbandhan formed in 2015 along with JD(U), but was later dumped by Nitish Kumar in 2017.

The BJP alleged that by joining with the RJD, Nitish Kumar had disrespected the mandate given by the people. While soon after the swearing-in ceremony, Kumar said that the party made the decision together to leave the BJP.

Meanwhile, speculation was rife regarding his future with suggestions of his “national ambitions” doing rounds in the political sphere. Further, former Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Modi alleged that the JD(U) had split with the NDA as the chief minister was not made the Vice President.

However, Nitish Kumar on Thursday rejected the claims saying, “You heard a man (Sushil Modi) say that I wanted to be Vice President. What a joke! I have no such desire. Did they forget how much our party supported their President and Vice-President candidate? We were waiting for the election to be over and then convened our meeting.”