Last Updated on November 15, 2020 at 9:30 pm
Nitish Kumar, Janata Dal (United) President, was elected as leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday. For the fourth consecutive term, he will now take oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar on the afternoon of November 16.
Nitish Kumar was elected the leader unanimously after a meeting of NDA legislators held at the official residence of the Chief Minister of state at 1, Aney Marg. Many senior party leaders were present during the meeting including Rajnath Singh, Senior BJP leader and Defense Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, party’s poll-in-charge.
Coming out of Raj Bhawan, Kumar told media persons present that after being elected as leader of the NDA legislature party, today he went to the Governor to claim for the formation of the next government. The Governor has accepted his request. The oath taking ceremony will be held between 4 to 4:30 PM tomorrow November 16. After the ceremony, everything else will be decided.
All four NDA alliance partners were accompanying him. However, the suspense over the name of the next Deputy Chief Minister is still continuing. Answering the question of if BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi will become Deputy CM, Nitish Kumar said that it will be known after some time. Rajnath Singh too avoided the question and said that it will be known at an appropriate time.
However, Sushil Modi who is known to be close to Nitish Kumar was not present at the Raj Bhawan with other party leaders. He headed straight to the State Guest House after meeting the NDA legislators with Rajnath Singh where both the leaders met for another round of closed door meetings.
It has been rumoured that Sushil Modi who has been the Deputy CM might not be appointed to the post this time. Other party leaders like Kameshwar Chaupal and Prem Kumar may be elected.
In the 2020 Bihar assembly elections held recently, the NDA had won 125 seats out of the total 243 seats. The NDA comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United), Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM) and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). Out of these 125 seats won, the BJP alone won 74 seats while the JDU got 43 seats and four seats each by HAM and VIP.
