PATNA: Seven new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were sworn in as ministers in Nitish Kumar’s government on Wednesday.
Bihar governor Arif Mohammad Khan administered the oath of office to the new ministers at the Raj Bhawan, with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, deputy chief ministers, Vidhan Sabha speaker, Legislative Council chairman, and other dignitaries in attendance.
Nitish Kumar met BJP president JP Nadda on Tuesday and made the final decision on the cabinet expansion, just ahead of the Budget session starting Friday.
Although at least one Janata Dal (United), JD(U) minister was expected to be included, all the seven new ministers are from the BJP.
In the 243-member Bihar assembly, the maximum number of ministers allowed is 15% (36).
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The JD(U)’s quota of ministers in the cabinet was already full with 13 berths, while one minister was from Hindustani Awam Morcha HAM (Secular), HAM-S, and an independent, a senior JD(U) leader explained.
The Bihar cabinet, which can have a maximum of 36 ministers, previously had 30. Following the resignation of Land and Revenue minister Dilip Jaiswal, seven positions were vacant. With this expansion, all vacancies have now been filled.
The BJP continued its trend of giving space to both new and experienced faces while ensuring the right regional and caste balance in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Bihar expected later this year. Of the seven new faces, three are from the backward class, two from the extremely backward class and two from the upper caste.
BJP’s Sanjay Saraogi was the first to take the oath in Maithili on Wednesday. He has represented the Darbhanga assembly seat since 2005, and this is the first time a Vaishya community leader has been inducted into the ministry.
Sunil Kumar, belonging to the Kushwaha community, was second in line to take the oath. A four-term member of the legislative assembly (MLA) from Bihar Sharif, Kumar first won in 2005. He joined the BJP in 2013 after switching from JD(U) and won the 2015 and 2020 elections on the BJP ticket.
Jibesh Kumar, from the Bhumihar caste, represented the Jale assembly seat in Darbhanga. He served two consecutive terms and was also a minister in the previous NDA government.
Vijay Kumar Mandal, a veteran MLA, first won in 1995 on the BJP ticket. Belonging to the Kewat community, he won as an independent candidate from Araria in 2000, but later rejoined the BJP, winning twice from Sikti in 2015 and 2020.
Raju Kumar Singh, from the Rajput community, won the 2020 election from the Sahebganj seat on the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) ticket but later joined the BJP with two other MLAs, leaving VIP without any representation in the assembly.
Moti Lal Prasad from EBC is the BJP MLA from Riga seat in Sitamarhi in 2020 on the BJP ticket. He had won the seat in 2010, but lost to Congress in 2015.
Moti Lal Prasad, from the economically backward class (EBC), is a BJP MLA from the Riga seat in Sitamarhi, having won in 2020. He previously won the seat in 2010 but lost to Congress in 2015.
Krishan Kumar Mantoo, from the Kurmi caste, represents the Amnour seat in Saran. He was previously with JD(U), winning in 2010 but losing in 2015 to the BJP. He later joined the BJP and won again in 2020.
This will be the second cabinet expansion, following the first in March 2024, just before the Lok Sabha election announcement, when 21 ministers were inducted, adding to the existing nine. Nitish Kumar was sworn in as chief minister for the ninth time on January 28, 2024, along with eight ministers after walking out of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).