Nitish's swearing-in ceremony to serve as platform of anti-BJP bloc

Patna, Feb 22: The oath-taking ceremony of Nitish Kumar as Bihar Chief Minister later on Sunday may serve as a platform for an anti-BJP bloc with senior leaders of old Janata Parivar and several non-BJP chief ministers set to attend the function.

The guest list for the function at Raj Bhawan includes former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav among others.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, former Jharkhand Chief Minster Babulal Marandi, Samajwadi Janata Party leader Kamal Morarka, Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav and INLD leader Dushyant Chautala would also be in attendance, JD(U) functionaries said. During the Delhi elections, Nitish Kumar had wished good luck to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal.

After astounding victory of AAP in Delhi, Kumar had asserted they would give another blow to BJP in Bihar in coming Assembly polls later this year.

But Janta Parivar merger architect SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad would not be able to attend the function because of marriage engagement of Yadav's grandson and Prasad's daughter at Safai in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress General Secretary and party in-charge of Bihar C P Joshi will also be attending the function, Nitish Kumar's office said. JD(U) President Sharad Yadav and party General Secretary K C Tyagi would be present at the Raj Bhawan.

Assembling of so many leaders reflect the broadening of anti-BJP grouping which might spell trouble for the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in Parliament session starting tomorrow.

PTI