Patna, Nov 19 (IANS) Contrary to murmurs of surprises in store in the new Bihar government, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has chosen to stick to the "trinity" under whom the coalition achieved one of its biggest mandates and crossed the 200-mark in the 243-member Assembly. On Wednesday, the JD(U), with 85 legislators, elected Nitish Kumar as its legislative party leader. The BJP, with 89 lawmakers, chose Samrat Choudhury as its legislative party leader and Vijay Kumar Sinha as deputy leader.

This sets the stage for the next government formation in Bihar, which is likely to take place on Thursday. At the BJP legislative party meeting, Samrat Choudhury and Vijay Kumar Sinha were elected as the Leader and Deputy leader, respectively. Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP's central observer for the election of the leader of the BJP legislative party, told the media that Samrat Choudhury and Vijay Kumar Sinha were unanimously chosen by the party and extended congratulations to both leaders. "The jodi of Samrat Choudhury and Vijay Sinha is fit and also hit," Maurya told the reporters after their election.

Samrat Choudhury and Vijay Kumar Sinha will retain their Deputy Chief Minister posts, just like the previous dispensation under Nitish Kumar. In another crucial meeting, Nitish Kumar was unanimously elected as the leader of the JD(U) legislative party, paving the way for the next government formation. Now, all eyes are on the NDA legislative party meeting later at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, where Nitish Kumar is likely to be elected as the Leader of the NDA legislative party.

The decision of both the BJP and JD(U) to stick to previous faces effectively rules out any surprise elements in the new Bihar government. According to reports, the JD(U) and BJP are likely to have 15 members each in the new NDA government, while Chirag Paswan's LJP will have two and Upendra Kushwaha's RLM and Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM (S), one ministerial berth each. Towards the evening, Nitish Kumar will meet Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and submit his resignation as Chief Minister, thereby formally starting the process for the formation of a new government.