The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) elected Nitish Kumar as its leader at a meeting in Patna on Sunday, paving the way for the 69-year-old to become Bihar’s prime minister again. The meeting is held to decide the framework for the formation of the government in Bihar, days after the NDA won the Assembly elections.
The NDA meeting was held at Kumar’s official residence at 1, Aney Marg, in Patna. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh was also present at the meeting. NDA leaders also decided that Sushil Modi will be the party leader in the BJP legislature in Bihar and the swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on Monday.
Minutes before the NDA meeting, Kumar’s party, Janata Dal (United), had elected Kumar as the leader of the legislative party. Now he will go to the governor’s house to demand the formation of the government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which fought in the Bihar Assembly elections together with JD (U) as part of the NDA, had promised that Kumar would be the prime minister if the alliance wins the electoral battle. Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) were other NDA members in Bihar.
While the BJP won 74 seats in the elections, the JD (U) secured 43. Eight seats were won by two other constituents of the NDA. The NDA had made it halfway through the 243-member Assembly by winning 125 seats.
Kumar had submitted his resignation to the state governor, Phagu Chauhan, on Friday so that the process to form the new government can begin.
Earlier, in a media interaction on Thursday, Kumar had said that this year’s election was not the last and that his comments were misinterpreted. . “I did not talk about retirement. In the last meeting, I always say the same thing at the last rally of each election: ‘ant bhala to sab bhala’ (all is well that ends well). If you listen to the speech back and forth, everything will be clear, “said the prime minister.
.
