Amitha Reji George, Pune
On Sunday, Nitish Kumar resigned from his position as Chief Minister of Bihar and later took oath as the Chief Minister with the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the ninth time. The oath ceremony for the new government took place at the Raj Bhavan in Patna, Bihar with the presence of BJP Chief JP Nadda and Lok Janshakti Party Chief Chirag Paswan. Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha are appointed as the deputy chief ministers.
This move marked Nitish Kumar’s departure from the Mahagathbandhan and the opposition coalition I.N.D.I.A, and opting instead to form a new government with the BJP, a party Kumar had separated from less than 18 months ago. On explaining his resignation Kumar stated, ”I’m leaving my position as chief minister as of today. The situation arose since not everything was satisfactory. I was receiving views from all sides. I paid attention to each one. The government was dissolved today.”
The timing of this decision, just before the Lok Sabha Election 2024, is expected to impact the I.N.D.I.A bloc, of which Nitish Kumar was a key member. But Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated while speaking to reporters that the resignation of Janata Dal (united) head would have “absolutely no impact” on the I.N.D.I.A bloc that comprises the opposition.
Alongside Kumar and the two deputy Chief Ministers, the newly formed cabinet includes BJP’s Prem Kumar, JD(U) leaders Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Shravan Kumar, and Vijendra Yadav, Independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh and Hindustan Awam Morcha leader Santosh Kumar Suman,
So far, it appears that the NDA’s goal in choosing ministers is to win over the OBCs while retaining the support of the upper-caste constituency. Three members from the upper caste community, the are Vijay Choudhary, Vijay Sinha, and Sumit Kumar Singh, and an independent from the Rajput Community make up the current Bihar government. In the meantime, Santosh Kumar Suman is the representative of the Mahadalit community, while JD(U) leader Shravan Kumar shares the same Kurmi caste as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. According to a recent study conducted in Bihar, 2.8% of the state’s population is Kurmis.