8 Bihar ministers in Modi govt but NDA’s choices reflect regional, social imbalances

While NDA’s Kushwaha face Upendra Kushwaha lost from Karakat, the BJP nominees lost the three neighbouring seats of Arrah, Buxar, and Sasaram, all of which have a sizeable Kushwaha population. The JD(U)’s Valmiki Nagar MP Sunil Kumar, a Kushwaha face, also did not make the cut.

The regional imbalance is visible as two ministers, JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Ramnath Thakur from Samastipur and Ujiyarpur (which was carved out of Samastipur) MP Nityananda Rai, come from the same area. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Satish Chandra Dubey, a Brahmin face, comes from Champaran of north Bihar and so does Hajipur MP Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). The BJP’s Giriraj Singh, who represents Begusarai, is the sixth minister from north Bihar. The Ganga divides the state into north Bihar and other areas.

Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief and Gaya MP Jitan Ram Manjhi is the lone minister from central Bihar. Similarly, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, popularly known as Lalan Singh, the JD(U) MP from Munger, is the only minister from south Bihar.

The NDA has also tried to give representation to Dalits by inducting Manjhi and Paswan. However, a BJP leader admitted that the choice of ministers could reflect better regional and social balance. “All four of our ministers are from the trans-Ganga region. We could have included a Vaishya too,” the leader said.

The social imbalance too was visible in the NDA’s choice for ministers. While the JD(U) chose Thakur, the son of former CM Karpoori Thakur, to play the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) card, the BJP retained Rai with an eye on OBC Yadav votes, seen to be the traditional voter base of the RJD. The BJP also played its EBC card by elevating Mallah leader and Muzaffarpur MP Raj Bhushan Choudhary (a Nishad) as a minister.

While both the JD(U) and the BJP have sent one Bhumihar each (Lallan Singh and Giriraj Singh) to the Centre, none of the five Rajput NDA MPs — Radha Mohan Singh (East Champaran), Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Saran) and Janardhan Singh Sigriwal (Maharajganj) of the BJP, Veena Devi (Vaishali) of the LJP(R) and Lovely Anand (Sheohar) of the JD(U) — were considered. Patna Sahib MP and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who hails from the Kayastha community also missed the bus.

A senior JD(U) leader said the party expected three berths but got only two. “If we get another berth, it is likely to go to the Kurmi or Kushwaha community. Lalan Singh, one of the senior most leaders of our party, deserved a Cabinet berth while Thakur’s elevation is a good choice as it plays up the Karpoori Thakur symbolism,” the leader said.