Nitish likely to take oath as Bihar CM on Nov 20

The cabinet is likely to have 35 ministers, with the Congress tipped to have its MLA as Speaker

Nitish Kumar will take oath for the fifth time as Bihar chief minister on November 20 after the Chhath festival. His Cabinet of ministers will have 36 members, who will also swear in along with Nitish.

Although an official announcement is yet to be made, a senior Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), leader confirmed JD(U), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress have agreed upon the date.

The swearing-in ceremony is expected to be a show of force for Opposition parties. The event would provide a podium for Opposition leaders to put up a united front by marking their presence. Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son and Congress Vice-President Rahul, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Chautalas from Haryana will be invited for the event.

UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu are also likely to be present on the occasion, which will be held in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan.

A criteria of one minister on every five legislators is reported to be fixed for selection of ministers in the new government. According to this formula, the Congress might get five ministers, while 15 of the JD(U) legislators will be given place in the new Cabinet. With 16 ministers, RJD will dominate the Cabinet.

RJD is expected to get key departments such as finance, commercial taxes, road construction, health, public health engineering, urban development and tourism, while JD(U) might keep education, irrigation, rural development, rural works and agriculture for itself.

Crucial departments such as home and general administration are expected to be retained by Nitish himself. The Congress is also expected to get the Speaker position. However, the issue of appointing a deputy chief minister is yet to be sorted out by the JD(U) and RJD.

This would be the fifth time Nitish would be taking oath as the CM. His first stint was in 2000 when he headed the government for only seven days. He rode to power in November 2005 and again in 2010. In February 2015, he took oath for the high office for the fourth time after Jitan Ram Manjhi was removed from the chair.