The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders will meet at 12.30pm on Sunday to formally choose its leader in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar said.
NDA leaders had gathered at Kumar’s residence on Friday for an informal interaction, the first such event after the election results were declared on November 10.
“We sat together and decided to convene a meeting of elected legislators of all the four partners on November 15 at 12.30pm. All decisions will be taken in that meeting. After the meeting and election of the NDA leader, we will stake claim to form the government,” said Kumar.
The NDA, which comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United), Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM) and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), won 125 seats in the 243-member assembly with the BJP alone winning 74 seats. The JD (U), which had 71 MLAs in 2015, had to settle for 43 seats while the HAM-S and the VIP won four seats each.
Due to the poor performance of JD(U) in the assembly election, speculations were rife about Nitish Kumar’s role in the government. However, senior BJP leaders including Amit Shah have reiterated on several occasions their intent of standing by their promise of making Nitish Kumar the chief minister.
Sunday’s meeting could be an event to formally choose Nitish Kumar for the top post in state once again and to decide a date for the swearing-in ceremony of the leader. Crucial decisions regarding the alliance will also be taken in the meeting.
