While the NDA might have returned returned to power with a 125 seat absolute majority in Bihar, leaders across party lines have lauded RJD's Tejashwi Yadav for his performance. The RJD has emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly, and Tejashwi for his part, won the Raghopur seat by a margin of over 38,000 votes in the result announced late Tuesday night.
Now, on Thursday, as per The Free Press Journal's Law Kumar Mishra, the RJD leader has been elected as the leader of the Mahagatbandhan, consisting of the RJD, Congress, Left parties legislators.
As Yadav assumed the position, he also hit out at the NDA, stating that Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) has been relegated to the third position when it came to the number of seats and the vote share. "If he has any conscience left, he must give up his attachment to the Chief Minister’s chair," Tejashwi said.
Alleging foul play, he also demanded a "recounting of postal ballots in all those constituencies where these were counted at the end, and not in the beginning".
In other related news, the NDA's Chief Ministerial candidate, Nitish Kumar is likely to take oath as the Bihar Chief Minister for another term on November 16. Even as the NDA top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has announced that Nitish Kumar will be the new CM, there is also a buzz that the new Cabinet will have two Deputy Chief Ministers from the BJP, similar to the arrangement in Uttar Pradesh.
The role of Nitish Kumar is thus expected to undergo a change in the new government since his party has won only 43 seats, much lower than the BJP's 74 seats. As a result, the JD-U will perhaps play the role of 'younger brother' in the new Cabinet.
(With inputs from agencies)
