Bihar will witness a major political event on Tuesday with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigning from the post of Chief Minister. The JD(U) chief will also resign as the NDA legislative party leader, paving the way for the election of a new legislative party leader from the BJP.
The JD(U) will also have to choose a new legislative party leader in place of Nitish. A meeting of JD(U) MLAs and legislative councillors at Nitish Kumar’s residence at 2 pm, which will see the election of the new party legislative leader.
In Bihar, since the legislature consists of both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, a leader can become the Chief Minister even while being an MLC, provided there is a majority in the Assembly. The government has to prove its majority in the Assembly, where the number of MLAs is counted. Nitish is the current leader of the JDU legislative party. Shravan Kumar is the deputy leader of JD(U) in the Assembly, and Lalan Sarraf is the deputy leader of JDU in the Legislative Council. After Nitish's removal from the post of leader, the party will need one leader in each house. This name may be decided in the meeting at 2 pm on Tuesday.
Front-runners for the legislative party leader include Vijay Chaudhary and Shravan Kumar. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary appears to be Nitish's closest ally in running the government and stands by him during important decisions. The current Deputy Leader, Shravan Kumar, is also a close confidante of Nitish and hails from his own region and caste.
The new JDU leader will not only be the party's face in the Assembly but could also become Deputy Chief Minister in the new BJP-led NDA government. Therefore, the election of the JDU legislative party leader will be closely watched.
At the same time, the name of Nitish Kumar's son, Nishant Kumar, is also doing the rounds. If Samrat Chaudhary, a member of the Kushwaha community, becomes the new Chief Minister, Nishant could become the deputy since he comes from the Kurmi community. This will fit the caste equation within the Cabinet.
