Months ahead of Bihar Assembly polls, the Nitish Kumar led government had a cabinet expansion on Wednesday with the induction of seven new ministers from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). This is the second cabinet expansion in Bihar after March 2024, with the inclusion of 21 ministers. It came right before the Lok Sabha elections in the next month.
Bihar cabinet consists of 30 ministers, which includes 15 from BJP, 13 from JD(U), one from the Hindustani Aawam Morcha (HAM) and an independent. Six seats were vacant till now. As the seven ministers take oath, the cabinet count has increased.
The assembly elections in Bihar are scheduled to be held in October or November this year. If it all takes place as scheduled only, then the tenure of the newly appointed cabinet shall last for a period of eight to nine months. The expansion is seen as an effort to bring more faces to the cabinet, for a broader representation of the government ahead of the crucial elections.
The seven BJP MLAs who have joined the Nitish cabinet are Sanjay Sarogi (Darbhanga), Sunil Kumar (Biharsharif), Jibesh Kumar (Jale), Raju Kumar Singh (Sahebganj), Motilal Prasad (Riga), Vijay Kumar Mandal (Sikti) and Krishan Kumar Mantoo (Amnour). The swearing in ceremony took place at the Raj Bhavan in Bihar where Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administered their oaths of office.
Even though early Wednesday, BJP’s state President Dilip Jaiswal announced to step down as the Revenue Minister. Speaking to ANI, Jaiswal had said, “I am going to resign as the Revenue minister. ‘One person one post’ is the principle on which the party works. I am thankful that the central leadership has given me the responsibility of the party’s state unit. Cabinet expansion is the prerogative of the Chief minister.”
The recent developments in the Bihar’s politics are getting interesting as the assembly polls are nearing. There have been speculations of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar joining politics. He asserted that NDA should declare his father as the CM face in the Oct-Nov polls.
