Elected Grand Alliance MLAs skip a heartbeat every time their telephone rings. Such is the restlessness among ministry hopefuls just 48 hours before the swearing-in ceremony on Friday.
"The chief minister talks to me on the phone. But he has not mentioned a word about oath-taking," said one to The Telegraph. Another hopeful whose name was being whispered as one who would "surely" become a minister, was "not sure" himself. "It happens in politics. Sometimes the sure ones do not make it while the unsure ones find their names," he said.
RJD hopefuls are fairing no better. "I spent a considerable time at Lalu ji's place when Kharna prasad was distributed on Monday evening and during pehli argya on Tuesday. Lalu ji was chirping away merrily. But he did not say a word about who would make it to the ministry," said an impatient RJD MLA.
JDU and RJD hopefuls said only two persons - Lalu and Nitish - know who would make it. "Both are holding the cards close to their chests. But, we think, those who will make it, might get a call on Thursday. Even those who made it to the ministry in 2010 had got a call just a day before the swearing-in ceremony," said an insider.
While ministerial hopefuls spent anxious moments, there was no dearth of speculation - like whose caste helps their chances or how both of Lalu's sons might make it. The buzz in political circles is more around who is likely to be dropped than who will become minister. Insiders said the Grand Alliance had devised a formula - one minister for every five MLAs - under which to give berths to its constituents. By this logic, the RJD (80 MLAs) should get the maximum of 16 ministers, the JDU (71 MLAs) 14 and the Congress (27 MLAs) five ministers.
The RJD and Congress are going to be part of the cabinet after 10 years.
Caste is likely to play a significant part in berth finalisation. In the JDU camp, the buzz favours Bijendra Prasad Yadav from among Yadavs, Vijay Kumar Choudhary among Bhumihars, Naushad Alam from among the minorities, Bhima Bharti from the EBCs, Maheswar Hazari from the Dalits, Vijay Mishra (MLC) from the Brahmins and Ranvir Nandan (MLC) from the Kayastha community. Among Rajputs, names of Jai Kumar and Lesi Singh, both ministers in the outgoing government, are doing the rounds.
Shravan Kumar, a Kurmi from Nitish's home district of Nalanda, heads the list of probable ministers. In fact, people are guessing he could even become Assembly Speaker.
Another minister said on condition of anonymity: "If our names are on the ministerial list we should get a call by tomorrow evening, or by 20th morning. Only seniormost leaders know who all are going to be ministers."
In the RJD camp, the buzz is around Lalu's two sons Tej Pratap and Tejaswi, and Mundirka Singh Yadav, Ramanand Yadav, Abdul Bari Sidiqqui and Ram Chandra Purbey from MLC quota.
Asked if he would get a berth, Tej Pratap said: "If the party chief thinks I am fit for it, I will accept it and work for the development of the state. My younger brother and I, both got the people's mandate. No other politician's son won. If the responsibility is given to me, I would work honestly."
Tejaswi said he was not expecting anything but if the party gives him the responsibility, he would take it up the challenge.
Names doing the rounds in the Congress camp include those of Sadanand Singh, Vijay Shankar Dubey, Amita Bhushan, Mohammad Javed, Ashok Choudhary, Madan Mohan Jha and Rajesh Ram (MLC).
