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Updated: Jun 02, 2019 22:27 IST

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday inducted eight Janata Dal (United) MLAs as ministers in the state government, a move that came days after his party decided not to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new government because it was offered just one berth in the council of ministers.

While there was speculation that the Bihar cabinet expansion signalled a rift between the JD(U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), both parties appeared to play down the issue, with the Bihar CM saying the BJP will induct a minister from its quota later.

Kumar, who heads the JD(U) and was present for the oath-taking ceremony of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday, earlier said his party will not be part of the Union council of ministers as the BJP’s offer of participation was “symbolic representation”. He said leaders of his party did not agree to the offer of one berth.

The JD(U), which rules Bihar in alliance with the BJP and won 16 of the 40 seats in the state, wanted a bigger share in the council of ministers and had conveyed its demand to the BJP, which won 17 seats. It was not part of the Modi government in the last tenure and had walked out of the Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance in Bihar in 2017 to be part of the NDA.

Kumar has maintained that the JD(U) will remain part of the NDA.

On Sunday, the Bihar CM said: “BJP has decided that induction of their quota in the [Bihar] Cabinet would be done later.”

“There was a large number of vacancies in the JD(U) quota. The quota of allies with departments is decided at the very outset. At present, only the JD(U)’s quota has been filled, as the House session is on the cards and some key portfolios were vacant. All these portfolios were with the JD(U),” he added.

There was no representation from allies BJP and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in the latest Bihar cabinet expansion. Three ministerial berths remain vacant – one each for the JD(U), BJP and LJP.

The new ministers – Narendra Narayan Yadav, Shyam Rajak, Ashok Choudhary, Bima Bharti, Sanjay Jha, Ram Sewak Singh, Niraj Kumar and Lakshmeshwar Rai – were administered the oath of office and secrecy at a function at the Raj Bhavan by governor Lalji Tandon.

BJP leader and Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi said the BJP was not part of Sunday’s cabinet expansion as it decided to fill its vacant slot later. “Nitish Kumar offered the BJP to fill the seat, but we will do it at a later stage. NDA is one and everything is alright. We will consider filling our quota in future, as we already have 13 ministers. We have just one to fill,” he said.

Commenting on the JD(U)’s decision to stay out of the government at the Centre, JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi told ANI on Sunday: “The proposal that was given was unacceptable to the JD(U), therefore we have decided that in future also JD(U) will not be a part of the NDA led Union Cabinet, this is our final decision.”

News agency IANS quoted a senior JD(U), who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that the timing of the Bihar cabinet expansion was a “clear sign that Nitish Kumar is unhappy with the BJP leadership.”

Former director at the AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies, DM Diwakar, said the JD(U)’s decision to stay out of the Union cabinet could lead to political developments that could have an impact on next year’s assembly elections in the state. “The BJP has got what it wanted – a comfortable majority at the Centre and a landslide in Bihar. The JD-U also benefited. It was a mutual benefit in the election. It will be premature to say if it could lead to realignment or attempt to go it alone by either the BJP or JD-U. But in politics, nothing can be ruled out,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)