Council poll snub puts Deepak’s ministerial future under cloud

Patna: Bihar’s panchayati raj minister Deepak Prakash’s future in the state cabinet has come under a cloud after the NDA left him out of its list of candidates for the Bihar legislative council elections. Monday was the final date for filing nominations for nine full-term vacant seats, but the NDA announced only eight candidates from the BJP, JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vilas), leaving Deepak and his party, the RLM, without representation.

Deepak, son of RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, was first inducted into the cabinet on Nov 20 last year in the Nitish Kumar-led govt despite not being a member of either House of the Bihar legislature. Article 164(4) of the Constitution permits such an appointment, provided the minister secures election or nomination to either the legislative assembly or legislative council within six consecutive months.

As the deadline approached, Deepak briefly stepped down but was reappointed on May 7 in the subsequent govt headed by chief minister Samrat Choudhary.

The reappointment is now facing legal scrutiny. A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging Deepak’s return to the Council of Ministers. The petition argues that Article 164(4) provides only a limited one-time concession for non-legislators and cannot be reset through resignation, cabinet reshuffles, reappointment or even a change in the chief minister or ruling alliance during the tenure of the same legislative assembly.

According to the petition, permitting repeated reappointments would allow govts to bypass the constitutional requirement that ministers should ordinarily be elected representatives accountable to the legislature.

Political observers have linked Deepak’s omission from the council poll list to reports of strained negotiations within the NDA, particularly speculation surrounding a proposed merger between the RLM and BJP that failed to materialise after Kushwaha reportedly backed away.

With nominations now closed, analysts believe Deepak may be forced to resign unless he finds another route to legislative membership, such as a future nomination or a by-election arising from a casual vacancy.

Kushwaha, however, sought to downplay the issue on Monday. He maintained that the RLM remained part of the NDA and said Deepak would continue as minister as long as the alliance leadership wanted. He added that whenever legislative membership became necessary, it would be “arranged.”