Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav first meet after new government formation

Patna (Bihar) [India], August 17 (ANI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday met Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav for the first time since he formed a new government in the state after breaking the alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswhi Yadav who is Lalu’s son took to Twitter and shared this information where he also shared pictures of the meeting between the two leaders.

“Respected chief minister Nitish Kumar ji reached to meet national president (RJD) Lalu Prasad Yadav,” Tejaswi tweeted.
Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav and Rabri Devi were also present there.

Before taking his oath on August 10 also, Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and discussed the political developments.
Earlier, when Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with BJP, Lalu Yadav hailed Kumar for his decision to split from the NDA and reunite with the Mahagathbandhan to form the new government in the state.
Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with BJP and staked claim to form a government with RJD. Nitish Kumar is upset with the BJP on many issues as he approved several decisions in the meeting of the JDU Legislature Party.
A total of 31 ministers were inducted into the Bihar cabinet from various parties that are part of the Mahagathbandhan or the Grand Alliance in the state.
On August 16, the new Ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan at Raj Bhavan.
The RJD got 16 ministerial berths while the Janata Dal (United) got 11.
From RJD, Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav’s brother Tej Pratap Yadav, Samir Kumar Mahaseth, Chandrashekhar, Kumar Sarvajeet, Lalit Yadav, Surendra Prasad Yadav, Ramanand Yadav, Jitendra Kumar Rai, Anita Devi and Sudhakar Singh and Alok Mehta took oath.
Congress legislators Afaque Alam and Murari Lal Gautam were inducted into the cabinet as ministers, while Hindustani Awam Morcha’s Santosh Suman was also sworn in.
The Bihar cabinet can have up to 36 ministers, including the Chief Minister. Some ministerial berths will be kept vacant for future cabinet expansion, sources said.
Nitish Kumar had broken away from the BJP and formed a government with the RJD and other parties earlier this month. The Chief Minister and his deputy – RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav – took oath on August 10.
The Bihar Grand Alliance has a combined strength of 163. Its effective strength climbed to 164 after Independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh extended its support to Nitish Kumar. The new government is likely to prove majority in the Bihar assembly on August 24. (ANI)