Bihar cabinet's first meeting today, Nitish Kumar likely to distribute portfolios

Patna: On Monday, Nitish Kumar took the oath of Bihar's Chief Minister for the seventh time. After the formation of the new government, Nitish will hold the first cabinet meeting on Tuesday at 11.30 am. It is being said that the portfolios of ministers can be divided during the meeting. Apart from this, several other issues are likely to be discussed, including coronavirus.

Nitish Kumar was sworn in along with 14 ministers at the swearing-in ceremony held at Raj Bhavan on Monday. In Nitish Kumar's cabinet, seven ministers were sworn in from BJP, five from JDU, one each from HAM and VIP. BJP Legislature Party leader Tarkishor Prasad and Deputy Leader Renu Devi have been made Deputy Chief Ministers.

10 new faces have been included in Nitish Kumar's cabinet, who will attend the meeting for the first time. The cabinet will meet in the old secretariat.

A fourth-time MLA from the Bettiah seat in the Champaran region -- a BJP stronghold -- of Bihar, Renu Devi is known for being close to the RSS, like Tarkishore Prasad, and also to Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal. Interestingly, all three belong to the Vaishya community.

Tarkishore Prasad is an MLA from Katihar since 2005. This time, he has defeated Ram Prakash Mahato of RJD by around 10,000 votes. Tarkishore Prasad has an old association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. His family is originally from the Talkhua village of Saharsa district. He belongs to the Kalwar Vaishya society, which has the status of backward class in Bihar.

After a long time there will be a meeting in the cabinet hall. It may be noted that due to the coronvirus crisis, the cabinet meeting was being held only through video conferencing.

Meanwhile, the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) boycotted the swearing-in ceremony stating the mandate was against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). In a tweet, the RJD said: "The RJD boycotts swearing-in ceremony. The mandate for change is against the NDA. The mandate has been changed on the state’s directions. Ask the unemployed, farmers, contract workers and employed teachers of Bihar what is going on with them. The public is agitated by the fraud of the NDA. We are the public's representatives and stand with them."

The NDA won 125 seats in the recently concluded Bihar Legislative Assembly elections, while the opposition grand alliance got 110 seats. The opposition RJD won 75 seats, while its ally Congress was reduced to 19 seats. At the same time, BJP got 74 seats and JDU got 43 seats. Apart from this, the Left parties won 16 seats.