Dismissing suggestions that the inclusion of two sons of Lalu Prasad showed that the politics of dynasty has set in Bihar, he said that the two have won the elections and the RJD is an important part of the ruling alliance. It was like a grand oath taking ceremonial function held in presence of numerous leaders of parties except BJP.
Advertisement
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Karnataka Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah were among those in attendance.
That Lalu’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has emerged as the single largest party in the state assembly is going to weigh heavily on the new chief minister. Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who was deputed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was also present.
In the allocation of portfolios, the Chief Minister retained the portfolios of Home, General Administration and Information & Public Relations with himself.
From RJD quota besides Lalu’s sons, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Abdul Gafoor, Vijay Prakash, Chandrika Rai, Alok Kumar Mehta, Ram Vichar Rai, Sheo Chander Ram, Muneshwar Chaudhary, Chandrashekhjar and Anita Devi took oath.
In a press note, Nagaland State Unit of JD(U) president Mhonjan Lotha expressed the hope that the new government led by dynamic leadership of Nitish Kumar would be able to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of common people in the state.
A few allies of BJP Akali Dal Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal (Akali Dal) and Ram Das Kadam and Subhash Desai (Shiv Sena) were also present.
After Kumar, Tejaswi Yadav and Tej Pratap took the oath. Lalu did not made any comment on the first day of his sons in the government and said that it was for the CM to comment on their performance of his ministers. “Even his critics agree”, JD-U state president Vashisht Narain Singh, who has known Nitish Kumar since the 1990s, told.
Jay Kumar Singh of JD (U) will look after Industry, while Manju Varma, also of JD (U) has been given Social Welfare.
With the induction of both his sons, who have been elected as MLAs first time, Lalu ensured an upper hand to what was once the first family of Bihar.
Advertisement
“Will miss the ceremony, but Nitishbabu & Laluji, I remain a well-wisher, admirer and friend…and remember, once a friend, always a friend”, he tweeted.
