Soon after leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly and senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav took on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for keeping altogether 18 departments with himself, a Minister in Nitish Cabinet said that the Chief Minister might expand his Ministry before the upcoming lok Sabha polls.
“The Chief Minister may expand his Ministry before the lok Sabha polls. I’m saying all this after having a talk with him,” said Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh. Singh had, earlier, criticised the functioning of the Nitish Government at JD(U)’s two-day Chintan-Shivir at Rajgir.
Ever since his outbursts at party’s Rajgir meet, the buzz in the political corridor was that he has been putting pressure on the Chief Minister to anoint him as Deputy Chief Minister of the State. It was also said that Singh even claimed that he had support of at least 19 party MlAs to take any future political course of action.
Besides, many JD(U) legislators, along with the four Independent MlAs currently supporting the Nitish Government, too have been putting pressure on the CM to expand his Cabinet.
Earlier, while slamming Nitish and his Government in the State Assembly on Monday, Nand Kishore said that the Opposition would not take any reply from MlAs for the departments being handled by the Chief Minister.
“The Chief Minister himself has to come and respond the queries of all the departments he has been holding the charge. If he cannot manage why he does not expand his Ministry and give his party leaders a chance to become Ministers,” asked Nand Kishore. The BJP leader also took on the ruling JD(U) on many fronts and said that ever since Nitish Government has parted ways with the BJP, the performance of the Government has plummeted to the worse.
“Whatever achievements this Government has been trumpeting were all the part of the common minimum programme of the NDA Government and ever since it has parted ways from us there has been all round chaos,” alleged Nand Kishore.
The BJP legislators also demanded probe against Minority Welfare and IT Minister Shahid Ali Khan against whom an intelligence agency had given report for having links with ISI and IM men working in border areas of Champaran and Sitamarhi. The Opposition leaders even refused to take replies from the Minister on the floor of the House.
“We demand a thorough probe against the Minister against whom an intelligence agency had given report for having links with ISI and IM suspects,” said the Opposition leader. However, State Water Resource Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhury said that name of the Minister has come clean in the investigation done by the Bihar police earlier.
Significantly, after coming out of alliance from BJP on June 16 last year, the JD(U) Government was running on the support of four Independent and four Congress MlAs.
But, recently, with a party MlA and Minister Praveen Amanullah’s resignation from the party and the sudden demise of another party MlA Damodar Singh, the ruling JD(U) became a “minority Government”, claimed senior BJP leader Shushil Kumar Modi.
“Now the JD-U has only 116 MlAs with support of four Independent legislators in the 243 member of the House. It has become a minority government”, said Shushil Modi while explaining that the four Congress MlAs have not given any letter of support to the Governor for the Government as “they merely voted for them during confidence motion”.
While coming out from the State Assembly, Modi also charged that the law and order situation in the State now has slipped into the year 2005 when crime was the order of the day. While displaying the State police figures Modi substantiated his claim before mediapersons.