Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expanded his new cabinet Tuesday by inducting 31 new ministers. A total of 16 persons from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were given ministerial berths. Nitish Kumar while expanding his cabinet took care to give due representation to all sections of society, including minorities.
Some 11 members of the Council of Ministers are from Kumar’s Janata Dal (U), two from the Congress and one from ex-CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM, besides an Independent.
The swearing in took place at Raj Bhavan, where Governor Phagu Chauhan administered oath of office to the inductees in batches of five and six. Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who had been sworn in earlier August 10, were among those present.
RJD president Lalu Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav enjoyed a pride of place, as the second-term MLA took oath in the first batch, alongside party veteran Alok Mehta, JD (U) heavyweights Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Yadav and Mohd Afaque Alam of the Congress.
The mercurial MLA was, however, uncharacteristically solemn. No sooner than Kumar arrived at the Rajendra Mandapam hall before the swearing in commenced, Tej Pratap got up to greet the latter by touching his feet.
Kumar blessed the maverick leader, keeping whom on a tight leash could be a challenge. He then proceeded to have a chat with Tejashwi, the younger but more mature sibling on whose shoulders lies the burden of keeping family feud and unruly party cadres under check.
The new cabinet, predictably, has a sizeable number of Yadavs and Muslims, though members of other sections of the society also find a place. Three of the ministers are women – Sheela Kumari and Leshi Singh {both JD (U)} and Anita Devi (RJD).
There are altogether seven Yadavs from the RJD, including the two sons of Lalu Prasad, besides Bijendra Yadav of the JD (U). Others from the populous caste group in Bihar include Lalit Yadav, Surendra Prasad, Chandrashekhar, Ramanand Yadav and Jitendra Kumar Rai.
There are five Muslims – Zama Khan (JDU), Mohd Afaque Alam (Congress) and Mohd Shamim, Mohd Israil Mansuri and Shahnawaz Alam (all RJD).
The sizeable number of Muslims and Yadavs, apparently, led BJP national spokesman Sanjay Mayukh to allege ‘this is not a cabinet headed by Nitish Kumar. It bears the imprint of Tejashwi Yadav. We will expose the inherent contradictions of this opportunistic alliance’.