Nitish Kumar Likely to Resign Today; New Bihar Government to Take Oath on November 20, PM Modi to Attend
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to resign today ahead of the formation of the new government. He will chair the final cabinet meeting at around 11:30 am, after which he will submit his resignation. According to a notification from the Cabinet Secretariat Department, the cabinet will pass a proposal authorizing him to meet the Governor with the recommendation to dissolve the outgoing Assembly.
Sources have confirmed that the oath-taking ceremony for the new government will be held on November 20 in Patna, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to attend. Several senior NDA leaders, including Union ministers and chief ministers of NDA-ruled states, are also expected to be present.
Meanwhile, after the RJD’s massive defeat in the Assembly elections, tensions within Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family appear to be rising.
A few days after a sweeping victory in the Bihar Assembly elections, the new NDA government will take its oath at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna on November 20 (Thursday). However, it is still unclear whether Nitish Kumar will take oath as Chief Minister for a record tenth term.
PM Modi is expected to attend the ceremony as he had addressed more than a dozen rallies during the election campaign and had publicly vowed to return for the NDA’s oath ceremony.
Nitish Kumar, who has the support of NDA allies to once again lead the government, will oversee the dissolution process in today’s cabinet meeting before submitting his resignation to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.
A senior JD(U) leader confirmed that a resolution will be passed authorizing Kumar to meet the Governor with the proposal to dissolve the outgoing Assembly.
This development comes after Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal met the Governor on Sunday and submitted the list of newly elected MLAs, confirming the NDA’s landslide victory.
The NDA swept the 243-member Assembly, winning 202 seats. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 89 seats, followed by JD(U) with 85 seats. Chirag Paswan’s LJP (RV) secured 19 seats, while smaller allies like HAM and RLM won a total of nine seats. The RJD-led Mahagathbandhan could win only 35 seats.
In Delhi, JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha met Nitish Kumar after holding discussions with BJP’s top leadership regarding government formation. Speaking to the media afterward, he said, “The new government will be formed in a few days. You will get complete details at the right time. We are committed to fulfilling all promises made in the NDA’s manifesto.”
JD(U) eyes more cabinet berths
A JD(U) leader, speaking off the record, said the party is expecting more representation in the new cabinet, as it had only 12 ministers last time.
“We want more cabinet positions since our strength has increased significantly compared to 2020, when we had fewer than 50 MLAs,” he said. However, he admitted that accommodating the demands of all alliance partners—including new entrants like LJP (RV) and RLM—will be challenging.
Is LJP (RV) eyeing a Deputy CM post?
Chirag Paswan said that LJP (RV) is keen to join the new government but did not comment on whether his party is seeking the Deputy Chief Minister position.
In the outgoing government, BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha served as Deputy Chief Ministers. Meanwhile, the HAM party, led by Minister Santosh Kumar Suman, held its legislative meeting and elected Sikandra MLA Prafful Manjhi as its leader.
MLC Suman said, “We fully support Nitish Kumar and are eager to serve the people of Bihar again.”
