The Congress is now mounting pressure on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to expand the state cabinet and accommodate two of its leaders as ministers, party leaders familiar with the matter said.
While the party has been asking for two more berths for some time now, it has renewed the pressure after the June 23 Opposition unity meeting called by CM Kumar, which was also attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and top leader Rahul Gandhi, besides chieftains of 14 regional parties.
тАЬCM Kumar was reminded by Kharge and Gandhi to give the party its due share in the ministry at the earliest,тАЭ a senior Congress leader said.
The two Congress leaders, hours before they attended the Opposition unity meeting, had met and addressed party leaders and workers at the partyтАЩs state headquarter at Sadaquat Ashram.
Earlier, Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh had categorically said that the cabinet expansion would take place after June 23 and two of the party legislators would be accommodated as ministers.
After the June 23 meeting, Singh has also left for New Delhi for consultation with the top Congress leadership.
Congress currently has two ministers in the state government.
A senior party leader said Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan is likely to meet CM Kumar on Tuesday to discuss the cabinet expansion, among other issues. тАЬThe party, as per its strength in the legislature, is due to get at least four seats, which we have been demanding for long,тАЭ said Khan.
тАЬParties were allocated one berth in the Cabinet per five legislators. We have 19, hence we claimed four. The JDU has 45 MLAs and got 12 ministers while RJD, with 79 MLA, has got 17 berths plus assembly speakerтАЩs post,тАЭ said another Congress leader, who didnтАЩt wish to be named.
The Nitish Kumar cabinet currently has 33 members, against the prescribed limit of 36.
Meanwhile, another Congress leader said that unavailability of deputy CM and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who too has gone to Delhi for personal reasons, might delay things. He said the party was insisting for the cabinet expansion before the monsoon session of the state legislature, commencing on July 10.
