With around eight months left for Assembly elections in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Wednesday expanded his Cabinet with seven new ministers, all from alliance partner BJP. The Cabinet now has 36 ministers including the CM — the maximum number allowed in the state, which has a 243-member Assembly — for the first time since 2005. BJP, the senior alliance partner, now has 21 ministers, followed by Nitish’s JD(U) with 13, and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) with one. The state also has an Independent minister. The development comes a day after state BJP chief Dilip Kumar Jaiswal resigned as land and revenue minister to adhere to the party’s “one person, one post” policy. Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administered the oath of office on Wednesday to the new ministers, all of whom are Assembly members. Bihar also has a Legislative Council. The new cabinet members (and their Assembly seats) are: former minister Jibesh Kumar (Jale seat in Darbhanga district); Krishna Kumar Mantoo (Amnour, Saran district), Sanjay Saraogi (Darbhanga seat), Motilal Prasad (Riga, Sitamarhi district); Sunil Kumar (Biharsharif, Nalanda district); Vijay Kumar Mandal (Sikti, Araria district); and Raju Kumar Singh (Sahebganj, Muzaffarpur district). The expansion suggests a focus on areas where the BJP has a good presence. Of the seven ministers, six are from North Bihar and one is from Nalanda. Two ministers are from Darbhanga’s Mithilanchal area alone. The decision also indicates an attempt to balance caste groups. Raju Kumar Singh and Jibesh Kumar are from the upper caste Rajput and Bhumihar communities, respectively. Vijay Kumar Mandal and Motilal Prasad are from Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs). Krishna Kumar Mantoo (Kurmi community), Sunil Kumar (Kushwaha community), and Sanjay Saraogi are from Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The cabinet expansion, long overdue, was approved after BJP national president JP Nadda and Nitish, the JD(U) chief, gave it the nod just two days ahead of the Assembly’s Budget session.
