Fadnavis says 'all okay' as Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh meets Nitish ahead of key NDA meet

As NDA leaders arrived at Nitish Kumar's residence in Patna, ahead of key announcements regarding the formation of the Bihar government, Devendra Fadnavis has said that all is well between the JDU and the BJP. As JDU's seats in the recently concluded assembly polls were reduced to 43 and BJP won 75, it is expected that the saffron party will be the big brother in the cabinet. Talks are also being held on the Deputy CM post, with sources saying that Sushil Modi might not retain the chair and a lesser-known Dalit leader Kameshwar Chaupal will be given the post. As the speculations remain high before the formal announcement, Fadnavis' comment comes after another BJP minister Prem Kumar said that the real picture will be out after the meeting. 

Fadnavis said, "Everything is okay. You will get to know everything at the right time. We will be meeting then you will know." When asked if Sushil Modi will be the Deputy CM, he said, "Wait for sometime."

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NDA meeting today

Earlier on Friday, leaders all the four constituents of the NDA Kumars JD(U), BJP, HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party had met informally at 1, Anney Marg, the Chief Minister's official residence, where it was decided that all the newly elected NDA MLAs will meet on Sunday and formally elect Kumar as their leader. After the cabinet meeting, which lasted barely 10 minutes, Kumar had told reporters that NDA will meet at 12:30 pm on Sunday, November 15 and all further decisions will be taken thereafter. Sources have told that Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh will be present in the meeting.

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Decks were cleared on Friday for the formation of a new government in Bihar with Nitish Kumar, who is set to return as the chief minister, handing over to Governor Phagu Chauhan the resignation of his ministry and the recommendation to dissolve the state assembly. The Governor accepted the resignation and asked Kumar to continue as the caretaker Chief Minister till the new NDA government is sworn in.

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Bihar Election Result 2020

The Bihar assembly elections results were declared around midnight on November 10-November 11, with the ruling coalition - NDA winning 125 in the 243-member assembly, against Mahagathbandhan's 110. Even as the contest remained neck and neck throughout the day, RJD under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav, became the single largest party with 75 seats, followed by BJP's 74. While Chirag Paswan's LJP won one seat, it made a major dent in JDU's tally that has come down to 43 from 71 in 2015. The biggest clincher is Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM winning 5 seats and CPI-ML  winning 12 seats. The other two left parties - CPI and CPI-M won two each. The other two alliance partners of NDA - HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) won four seats each.

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