Bihar assembly elections 2015: Congress may get 5 ministers, eyes Speaker’s post

PATNA: Many newly-elected Congress MLAs in the Bihar assembly have rushed to Delhi to lobby with central leadership for a ministerial berth in the Mahagathbandhan government even as sources confirmed that the party, with 27 legislators, is eyeing the Speaker's post too.

"The Congress would lobby with the top brass of JD(U) and RJD for the Speaker's post, which is considered non-political," said a senior state Congress leader and former minister on condition of anonymity. He is among the ministerial hopefuls who are camping in Delhi.

The Nitish government can accommodate 36 members in its council of ministers. The informal formula discussed among leaders of the three parties is to have a minister for every five MLAs. By this token, the RJD (80 MLAs) would have 16 ministers, JD(U) (71 MLAs) 14 and Congress (27 MLAs) five.

Congress sources said the name of nine-time MLA Sadanand Singh is doing the rounds for the Speaker's post. Singh held this post from 2000 to 2005 when Congress had joined the Rabri Devi government. However, it won't be easy for the Congress to bag the Speaker's post, which is being eyed by both RJD and JD(U) this time around.

Congress MLAs whose names are being talked about for ministerial berths include Vijay Shankar Dubey, Madan Mohan Jha, Amita Bhushan, Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Ashok Choudhary, Ashok Ram and Mohammad Jawed. The Congress legislature party would meet at Sadaqat Ashram on November 14 at 11am, before participating in a meeting of Grand Alliance MLAs later that day.

The time-tested formula to which the Congress would stick to for the selection of ministers is giving representation to caste, women and six sub-regions — Mithila, Bhojpur, Magadh, Anga, Vajji and Seemanchal.