Patna: The state govt on Sunday dismissed speculation over the status of senior JD(U) leaders Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav, clarifying there was no confusion regarding their designation as deputy chief ministers.Additional chief secretary Arvind Kumar Chaudhary said the notification issued recently by the cabinet secretariat department dealt only with allocation of portfolios among ministers and had no bearing on the earlier notification declaring both leaders as deputy chief ministers.“The notification about the designation of deputy CM has already been issued. The fresh notification is about the distribution of portfolios among ministers,” Arvind told TOI on Sunday.The clarification came after a political controversy erupted over the absence of the designation “deputy chief minister” from the names of Vijay and Bijendra in a fresh notification issued after the May 7 cabinet expansion.Both leaders had taken oath on April 15 along with chief minister Samrat Choudhary during the swearing-in ceremony held at Lok Bhavan after JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar resigned from the post of chief minister.Interestingly, the cabinet secretariat department’s April 15 notification had clearly mentioned both Vijay and Bijendra as deputy chief ministers. However, in the subsequent May 7 notification, their names appeared only with their respective portfolios. Vijay was mentioned as minister for water resources and parliamentary affairs, while Bijendra was listed as minister for finance and commercial taxes.The omission triggered sharp reactions from the opposition RJD, which questioned whether both leaders continued to hold the posts of deputy chief ministers.“This didn’t happen accidentally but was part of the BJP’s strategy to slowly eliminate its ally,” RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan alleged on Sunday. He also demanded clarification from the chief minister on the status of the two JD(U) leaders.Referring to the recent cabinet expansion ceremony, Gagan claimed the event reflected the BJP’s growing dominance within the NDA.“No posters, banners, party flags and photos of the allies were found prominently visible at the venue of the BJP-led NDA govt’s cabinet expansion,” he said.Responding to the controversy earlier, JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad termed the omission a “typing error”.“Both the JD(U) ministers are deputy chief ministers. The omission of their designation from names could be a typing error,” Rajiv said.
