The other deputy CM Renu Devi has been assigned Panchayati Raj, Welfare of the backward classes and industry.
The BJP has won some ministries such as Industry, Panchayati Raj (now with Renu Devi), Disaster Management (now with Tarkishore Prasad), Sugarcane Industries (now with Amarendra Pratap Singh) and Law (now with Ram Surat Rai) who were previously with JD (U).
Interestingly, the BJP has ceded two of its previous ministries, Fisheries and Livestock, to the leader of the Vikasheel Insan Party, Mukesh Sahani.
The biggest change on the part of the BJP has not been so much a gain in terms of ministries but rather the changes it has made in its own staff. The replacement of Sushil Modi by Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi is particularly significant in this context and Modi had a good working relationship with Nitish Kumar.
The BJP clearly doesn’t want to make any more concessions to make Nitish Kumar feel more comfortable. He has also dismissed the chief ministers, Dr. Prem Kumar and Nandkishore Yadav, although the latter is likely to become the Speaker of the Assembly.
Some say the way the BJP has approached this power-sharing agreement indicates that it is not seeing it as a plan for the next five years. Rather, it appears to be a transitional period for the party until it feels ready enough to form a government on its own or fight new elections without the JD (U).
Meanwhile, the party’s top priority would be to conquer much of the Non-Yadav OBC, Mahadalit and Nitish Kumar female base, as well as expand its Hindutva card.
However, the crucial question is what does this arrangement mean for Nitish Kumar? Will he go to face the BJP in a few months and overthrow his own government to project himself as a martyr?
Or do you seriously consider this your latest entry, regardless of what the BJP has planned?
In either eventuality, it would be interesting to see what the rest of the JD (U) does.
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