Bihar CM-elect Nitish Kumar has invited veteran BJP leader L K Advani and the party's Bihar leader Satrughan Sinha to attend the oath-taking ceremony in Patna on November 20. M I Khan/ Rediff.com reports from Patna.
In a bid to embarrass Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Nitish Kumar has invited 'bujurg' Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani and estranged the Bharatiya Janata Party MP Satrughan Sinha to attend his oath-taking ceremony on November 20 at Gandhi maidan in Patna.
According to ruling Grand Alliance leaders in Patna, Advani and Sinha have been invited to attend Nitish Kumar oath-taking ceremony.
“An invitation has been sent to both of them to attend Nitish Kumar oath-taking ceremony,” he said.
Both Advani and Sinha were kept away from Bihar assembly polls despite two of them were named as star campaigners.
A number of leaders, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav have been invited and they will attend Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar oath-taking ceremony.
Former prime minister Deve Gowda is also likely to attend it. Besides, former Jharkhand chief ministers Babulal Marandi and Hemant Soren and Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Chauthala have been invited to attend the oath taking ceremony.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav will be the main guests at the function.
Nitish Kumar met Bihar governor Ramnath Kovind and staked claim to form the government on Saturday after the Grand Alliance legislature parties unanimously elected him as their leader in the assembly. Kovind has invited him to take oath on Nov 20.
The Grand Alliance routed the BJP in assembly elections, the results of which were announced on Sunday. The RJD emerged as the single largest party with 80 assembly seats, followed by the JD-U with 71 and the Congress with 27 seats.
There will be 16 ministers from Lalu Prasad's RJD, 15 from the JD-U and five from the Congress.
