Nitish Kumar not to expand cabinet anytime soon

Kumar is expected to give the finance ministry vacated by Sushil Kumar Modi,now the leader of opposition,to his close aide and water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhury. No one,however,is likely to succeed Modi as deputy chief minister.

Senior JDU legislator Shravan Kumar is in the running for a Cabinet berth as are former ministers Harinarain Singh and Chhedi Paswan,who has had a less than cordial relationship with Kumar.

The Chief Minister,sources said,might induct at least one more Muslim minister to give right signal to Muslims,the constituency he has been nursing for sometime now.

Though Independents have been saying the support the government unconditionally,the Chief Minister will have to make them ministers soon to enjoy their support. After all,Independents are highly unpredictable, a JDU leader said.