4 min readPatnaJun 27, 2023 08:00 AM IST
First published on: Jun 27, 2023 at 08:00 AM IST
THE GOODWILL generated by the Patna Opposition meeting seems set to clear the air between the Mahagathbandhan as well. As a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar emerging from the four-hour-long meeting on June 23 shows, the Bihar Chief Minister may finally acquiesce to the Congress demand for two additional Cabinet berths in the coalition government he heads in Bihar.
Besides Rahul and Nitish, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and Bihar Congress state president Akhilesh Prasad Singh can be seen in the 48-second video, in which Nitish can be heard asking Rahul how many more Cabinet seats the Congress wants. The answer comes from Akhilesh Prasad Singh, who says, “Two.” Thereafter, Nitish turns to his deputy and tells the RJD leader to look into it and expedite the process.
While the BJP has mocked Nitish over the video, asking how many power centres are there within the MGB, the coalition is clearly not affected by it. The JD(U), in fact, has been claiming that Nitish’s indication that the Congress might get two more Cabinet berths was a one of magnanimity.
The Congress is happy about Rahul achieving in 48 seconds what the state Congress leadership has been trying, and failing it. Akhilesh Singh is known to have been raising the demand for a while.
Having won just 19 out of the 70 seats it had contested in the 2020 Assembly polls, the Congress has very little bargaining power in the MGB. Plus, the coalition has multiple partners and hence multiple interests to accommodate — including the RJD, JD(U), CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(ML-Liberation) — totalling 160 in a House of 243. Moreover, two Congress leaders, Aafaq Alam and Murari Gautam, are already Cabinet ministers.
Now that it might get two more berths, the Congress is said to be looking at nominating an OBC and an upper caste leader as ministers, to add to its Muslim and Dalit representation in the Cabinet.
RJD sources said Tejashwi has suggested to the Congress to consider upper caste MLAs for both posts, as OBCs are already well covered by both the party and JD(U). “The Congress should rather focus on upper castes, by making a Rajput and a Brahmin as ministers from its quota, to make a dent in the BJP’s core constituencies,” an RJD leader said.
Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari said they expect a Cabinet expansion soon. Asked about the BJP making fun of the video, Tiwari said: “It is an internal matter of the MGB, and the BJP should not comment on it.”
Leaders of both parties say that the show of flexibility is crucial if a united Opposition front is to be built for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. A senior JD(U) leader said: “Nitish Kumar is trying to cobble together a united Opposition. The offer of more ministerial berths might be a case of him showing largeheartedness towards the Congress, just as the Grand Old Party has shown greater flexibility towards the Opposition unity process. It is about mutual respect.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Bihar CM and JD-U chief Nitish Kumar during the opposition parties' meeting, in Patna, Friday, June 23, 2023. (PTI Photo) 
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