16 NDA MLAs, 19 from JDU to take oath as ministers today at 5pm

Cabinet reshuffle of new Nitish government to take place at 5pm at Raj Bhawan in Patna.

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New Delhi: The Cabinet reshuffle of the new Nitish government will take place at 5 pm today.  16 NDA MLAs and 19 from JDU to take oath as ministers today at 5pm at Raj Bhawan in Patna. A ministerial post could be given to Bihar-based Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party that is a part of the NDA. Preparations are underway at the Raj Bhawan for swearing-in of new ministers. BJP ally Hindustani Awam Morcha's (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, the only legislator from his party, said he will not join the cabinet. Manjhi, a former Chief Minister, reportedly left for Delhi on Saturday morning. On Friday, the new NDA government with Nitish Kumar sailed through the floor test in the Bihar Assembly as expected, but it was the embattled Tejashwi Prasad Yadav who stole the show with a combative speech in which he took on the chief minister on issues ranging from corruption to lust for power and questioned his motive behind forming four different governments in as many years. The NDA won the vote of confidence 131-108. Nitish also took a dig at the Congress. “You were only being given 10 to 15 seats. I ensured that you got 40 seats in the Grand Alliance,” he remarked. The chief minister thanked the BJP for coming to his support. “For the first time the same political configuration is in power in Delhi and Patna. It will bring in development with social justice in Bihar,” he said. Though Nitish was soft on Tejashwi, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi wasn’t. “The people of Bihar did not know that at the age of 26 you had 26 properties,” he said. (With information from The Telegraph, Calcutta)