The Congress will get three ministerial berths in the new Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, a senior party leader said on Sunday.
Speaking to PTI, All India Congress Committee's state in-charge Bhakta Charan Das said two Congress MLAs will take oath as ministers on August 16, and one more legislator will be inducted when the next cabinet expansion happens after that.
"The number of ministerial berths the Congress will get in the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar has been finalised. The Congress will get a total of three ministerial berths," he said.
"Two Congress legislators will take oath on August 16, when the chief minister is expected to expand his cabinet. One more party legislator will be inducted in the Nitish Kumar cabinet when the next expansion takes place after August 16," he added.
Das said the Congress MLAs who will become the ministers are yet to be decided.
"We will finalise the names of our legislators who will be part of the Nitsih Kumar cabinet on Monday," he said.
Earlier, Congress sources had indicated that the party was looking for four ministerial berths in the new government.
The cabinet, which at present comprises only the chief minister and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, is due for expansion on August 16.
Kumar had taken oath on Wednesday, a day after the Janata Dal-United snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and joined hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and some other parties to form the Mahagathbandhan government.
The Grand Alliance at present comprises seven parties -- the JD-U, the RJD, the Congress, the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist-Liberation, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Hindustani Awam Morcha, which together have more than 160 MLAs in the 243-member assembly.
