JD(U) and AIADMK not joining Modi government

The JD(U) and AIADMK refused to be part of the Narendra Modi government

In dramatic developments, the JD(U) on Thursday refused to be part of the Narendra Modi government complaining about inadequate representation while an internal fight in AIADMK prevented its nominee to take oath as minister.

The JD(U)'s decision was announced by Bihar Chief Minister and party chief Nitish Kumar just before the swearing-in ceremony was to start in Rashtrapati Bhavan. However, Kumar attended the swearing-in ceremony.

The BJP top leadership had decided that only one minister from allies would take oath in the first edition of Council of Ministers. However, the JD(U) was not ready for such a formulation and wanted at least two Cabinet ministers.

Its Rajya Sabha leader RCP Singh's oath-taking was intimated by the Prime Minister's Office to take oath as Cabinet minister but as Kumar's last minute negotiations with the BJP for more posts did not fructify.

"The offer given by the BJP was not acceptable to us. We are firmly with NDA. But we will not join the government," Kumar told reporters here.

Sources said the JD(U), which has 16 MPs from Bihar in the new Lok Sabha, was unhappy with the BJP and it felt that the numbers offered by BJP was untenable for it to be part of the Narendra Modi government. BJP had won 17 from Bihar after fighting the elections in alliance with JD(U) and LJP (six MPs).

While JD(U) had come out of its alliance with RJD and BJP in 2017 to join hands with BJP, it had not joined the NDA government at the Centre while running the state government with the saffron party.

For the AIADMK, the fight between the factions of Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and O Paneerselvam led to the withdrawal of the party from the Modi government, before the swearing-in ceremony.

Sources said Paneerselvam wanted his son P Raveendranath Kumar, the lone Lok Sabha MP for the party, in the Cabinet while the Chief Minister wanted senior MP R Vaithilingam in the ministry. The two sides could not reconcile their differences leading to the party without representation in the central government for the time being.