New Delhi: A day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for a record ninth time, returning to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance there was a flurry of activity as lobbying started for the assembly speaker position and other ministerial roles. It has been reported that the BJP is expected to keep the post of the assembly speaker. Names doing the rounds for the post of speaker include those of senior BJP leaders Nand Kishore Yadav and Amrendra Pratap Singh. BJP leaders on Monday indicated that the cabinet will be further expanded in a day or two to accommodate legislators belonging to other castes, minority groups and women.

Earlier in the day, Nitish chaired a meeting also chaired to allocate portfolios to the newly sworn-in ministers. Despite the meeting, NDA leaders remained tight-lipped about the specific designations given to the ministers. Sources told PTI that it was anticipated that the cabinet secretariat would release a notification regarding the distribution of portfolios by Monday evening. All eight ministers who had taken the oath on Sunday were present at the meeting.  

Here's the list of leaders who are likely to be included in Nitish cabinet 

• Shahnawaz Hussain
• Nitin Nabin
•  Rampreet Paswan
•  Janak Ram
• Shreyashi Singh
• Sunil Kumar Singh
• Madan Sahni
•  Lesi Singh
•  Sheila Mandal
• Jayant Raj
• Ashok Choudhary
• Sanjay Jha 

After taking the oath as the chief minister of Bihar for the record ninth time, Nitish asserted there is no question of now leaving the NDA. "I was with them (NDA) earlier, too. We went on different paths, but now we are together and will remain so. I came back to where I was (NDA), and now there is no question of going anywhere else," the 72-year-old politician said.

Meanwhile, the BJP has submitted a notice of no-confidence motion to the assembly secretary against Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, who represents the RJD. BJP leaders, in the notice, expressed a lack of confidence in the present speaker as a new government has assumed power. The motion was signed by legislators of the BJP as well as the JD(U).