Beyond Big 4, NDA allies to score: Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar push for major concessions

Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, the largest partner in the NDA after the BJP with 16 Lok Sabha members, is likely to get four berths. Of these, three could be cabinet ministers and one a junior minister. Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United might get two cabinet ministers and a junior minister

New Delhi, June 09, dmanewsdesk: The BJP is likely to keep the top four ministries with itself while “large-heartedly” handing over some other key portfolios to its allies to ensure the stability of Narendra Modi’s “NDA government”, party sources said on Saturday.

All the NDA allies would have representatives taking oath as ministers when Modi is sworn in for a third straight term as Prime Minister on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening, they added.

“Some 50 ministers could take oath tomorrow and of these around a dozen could
be from the allies,” a BJP insider said.

He said the importance and the number of the portfolios given to the allies would depend on their individual strength in the Lok Sabha.

“The NDA under Modiji’s leadership is united and committed to serving the country for the next five years, and this will be reflected during the swearing-in,” a BJP leader said. “Everything has been amicably sorted out with the allies.”

He, however, asserted that there was no question of the BJP parting with any of the top four ministries of home, finance, defence, or external affairs. “All four will be with the BJP but who gets what will be known only tomorrow.”

Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, the largest partner in the NDA
after the BJP with 16 Lok Sabha members, is likely to get four berths, with all the
ministers taking oath on Sunday. Of these, three could be cabinet ministers and one a junior minister.

Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United, which has 12 MPs, might get two cabinet ministers and a junior minister. Former JDU president Lallan aka Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Ramnath Thakur (son of socialist icon Karpoori Thakur), and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha are being billed as likely to be sworn in as ministers on Sunday.

Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan, a key ally from Bihar with five MPs, is expected to take oath as minister, as are representatives from the Shiv Sena and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.

The Desam has been insisting on the post of Lok Sabha Speaker but BJP insiders said the party leadership might eventually prevail on Naidu to give up the demand.

“Naidu’s main concern is a financial package for his state, Andhra Pradesh. If he is assured a hefty package for his state, he might relent on the Speaker’s post,” a BJP general secretary said.

Although the poll results are being viewed widely as a blow to Modi since the BJP has fallen far short of the majority mark of 272, BJP managers said the swearing-in ceremony would be a big affair with several foreign dignitaries in attendance.

Sources said tribal women, sanitation workers, transgender people and beneficiaries of various welfare schemes had been invited to the event to showcase the government’s concern about the poor and disadvantaged sections.

Invites have been sent also to the rat-hole miners who helped rescue 41 trapped construction workers from a collapsed mountain tunnel in Uttarakhand last year.

Source: The Telegraph online