11-24-2005, 03:09 AM
I don't feel it is a good idea for BJP to ask for Dy CM post. Instead of creating a useless position, it should have taken important portfolios like Home, Finance, Industry and Education to boldly clean up Bihar.
Sushil gets his due, named dy CM
Pioneer News Service / New Delhi / Patna
The Janata Dal (U) legislative party on Wednesday completed the formality of electing NDA's chief minister-in-waiting Nitish Kumar as its leader, but the big story of the day was BJP's decision to appoint its Bihar president, Sushil Kumar Modi as Mr Kumar's deputy. In his two-decade long political career, this is the first time that Mr Modi will hold a ministerial post.
Mr Modi was unanimously elected leader of the BJP legislative party on Wednesday. BJP vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu announced the decision after about a two hour meeting of the legislative party.
At the same time, the JD (U) legislative party elected Mr Kumar as its leader. Mr Kumar's name was proposed by JD (U) MLA from Jokihat Manzar Alam and seconded by Imamganj legislator Uday Narain Chaudhary.
The decision to appoint Mr Modi as the deputy chief minister was arrived at after detailed discussions between Mr Kumar and senior BJP leaders. Before leaving for Patna on Wednesday, Mr Kumar told reporters that he would be inducting about 14 ministers, including a deputy chief minister. "There will be a deputy chief minister. We will initially be inducting a small team of about 12-14 ministers which would be later expanded," he said after attending the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, where he was felicitated for NDA's sweep in the Bihar Assembly election.
Though Mr Kumar declined to divulge the name of the person who would be his deputy, he said, "everything has been discussed." But the smile on the face of Mr Modi, who was by his side, said it all.
The agreement between the JD (U) and BJP on Mr Modi's name reflects the true spirit of partnership that BJP general secretary in-charge of Bihar Arun Jaitley has been able to forge between the two allies. Not long ago, JD (U) leaders would not see eye-to-eye with Mr Modi, and many of them even leveled serious allegations against him when talks were deadlocked during ticket-sharing. But since then, the two alliance partners have traveled a long way.
Mr Modi's election was opposed by some leaders who were eyeing the post of deputy chief minister on the ground that like Mr Nitish Kumar he too belonged to the OBC formation. There were suggestions that a Brahmin should be made the deputy CM to reward the upper castes who had strongly backed the NDA in the Assembly poll. But in the end, senior NDA leaders decided that the alliance should rise over caste consideration, and reflect the true spirit of Bihar's mandate.
After resolving the question of deputy CM, leaders of both the camps were busy finalising the names of MLAs who would be sworn in as cabinet ministers on Thursday. In addition to Mr Kumar, six JD (U) ministers are likely to take oath on Thursday. The front runners are Monajir Hasan, Bijendra Yadav, Brishen Patel, Uday Narain Chaudhary, Cheddi Paswan, Sudha Sriwastava and Ram Nath Thakur, son of former chief minister late Karpoori Thakur who was hailed as the icon of backward class empowerment. The BJP is likely to have four ministers. In the runing are Nand Kishore Yadav, Navin Kishore Sinha, Ashwini Choubey, Chandramohan Rai and Prem Kumar.
Sushil gets his due, named dy CM
Pioneer News Service / New Delhi / Patna
The Janata Dal (U) legislative party on Wednesday completed the formality of electing NDA's chief minister-in-waiting Nitish Kumar as its leader, but the big story of the day was BJP's decision to appoint its Bihar president, Sushil Kumar Modi as Mr Kumar's deputy. In his two-decade long political career, this is the first time that Mr Modi will hold a ministerial post.
Mr Modi was unanimously elected leader of the BJP legislative party on Wednesday. BJP vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu announced the decision after about a two hour meeting of the legislative party.
At the same time, the JD (U) legislative party elected Mr Kumar as its leader. Mr Kumar's name was proposed by JD (U) MLA from Jokihat Manzar Alam and seconded by Imamganj legislator Uday Narain Chaudhary.
The decision to appoint Mr Modi as the deputy chief minister was arrived at after detailed discussions between Mr Kumar and senior BJP leaders. Before leaving for Patna on Wednesday, Mr Kumar told reporters that he would be inducting about 14 ministers, including a deputy chief minister. "There will be a deputy chief minister. We will initially be inducting a small team of about 12-14 ministers which would be later expanded," he said after attending the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, where he was felicitated for NDA's sweep in the Bihar Assembly election.
Though Mr Kumar declined to divulge the name of the person who would be his deputy, he said, "everything has been discussed." But the smile on the face of Mr Modi, who was by his side, said it all.
The agreement between the JD (U) and BJP on Mr Modi's name reflects the true spirit of partnership that BJP general secretary in-charge of Bihar Arun Jaitley has been able to forge between the two allies. Not long ago, JD (U) leaders would not see eye-to-eye with Mr Modi, and many of them even leveled serious allegations against him when talks were deadlocked during ticket-sharing. But since then, the two alliance partners have traveled a long way.
Mr Modi's election was opposed by some leaders who were eyeing the post of deputy chief minister on the ground that like Mr Nitish Kumar he too belonged to the OBC formation. There were suggestions that a Brahmin should be made the deputy CM to reward the upper castes who had strongly backed the NDA in the Assembly poll. But in the end, senior NDA leaders decided that the alliance should rise over caste consideration, and reflect the true spirit of Bihar's mandate.
After resolving the question of deputy CM, leaders of both the camps were busy finalising the names of MLAs who would be sworn in as cabinet ministers on Thursday. In addition to Mr Kumar, six JD (U) ministers are likely to take oath on Thursday. The front runners are Monajir Hasan, Bijendra Yadav, Brishen Patel, Uday Narain Chaudhary, Cheddi Paswan, Sudha Sriwastava and Ram Nath Thakur, son of former chief minister late Karpoori Thakur who was hailed as the icon of backward class empowerment. The BJP is likely to have four ministers. In the runing are Nand Kishore Yadav, Navin Kishore Sinha, Ashwini Choubey, Chandramohan Rai and Prem Kumar.