Patna: Altogether 32 new ministers — 15 from the BJP, 13 from the JD(U), two from the LJP (Ram Vilas), and one each from the HAM(S) and RLM — took oath in the cabinet expansion of chief minister Samrat Choudhary. The ceremony took place on Thursday at Gandhi Maidan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Union home minister Amit Shah and several other Union ministers and top NDA leaders.Among the first-time ministers are former chief minister Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar, Dr Shweta Gupta and Shailesh Kumar alias Bulo Mandal from the JD(U), and Mithilesh Tiwari, Ramchandra Prasad, Nand Kishore Ram and Engr Kumar Shailendra from the BJP. Mangal Pandey, a minister in previous NDA govts in Bihar and BJP Bengal incharge, emerged as the surprise exclusion in the Bihar cabinet expansion.Nishant, who has been assigned the key health portfolio, is being viewed as the most significant political signal, a development that has intensified discussions within the JD(U) regarding the future leadership structure.Among the ministers, three are sons of former Bihar chief ministers. They are Nishant Kumar, son of Nitish Kumar; Nitish Mishra, son of late Dr Jagannath Mishra; and Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.The state now has an almost full-fledged cabinet of 35 ministers, including chief minister Samrat. Bihar can have a maximum of 36 ministers. The BJP has six ministers from upper-caste communities and four from the Vaishya community, compared to only one from the JD(U). The JD(U) has four ministers each from OBC and EBC communities, two from the Dalit community, and Jama Khan as the lone Muslim face in the Samrat cabinet.Out of the 35 ministers, including the chief minister, nine belong to upper-caste communities, six hold PhD degrees, one is 10th pass, nine are from EBC communities and seven are Dalits.By inducting five women — Leshi Singh, Sheila Mandal and Dr Shweta Gupta from the JD(U), along with Rama Nishad and Shreyasi Singh from the BJP — and youth from various social sections, the NDA has attempted to strike a caste, community and regional balance. Mithilanchal has emerged as the biggest gainer with five ministers, while both Champaran districts together, despite being an NDA stronghold with 21 Assembly seats, have received only one ministerial berth. After Mithila, Shahabad has four ministers, while Kosi and Seemanchal have two each.Now, all eyes are on the extent to which these new faces bring changes in the govt’s style of functioning.Three ministers, including chief minister Samrat, belong to the Koiri-Kushwaha community. The others are Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha and Deepak Prakash. The Dhanuk community received two ministerial berths through Damodar Raut and Sheila Mandal. Deputy chief minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Ram Kripal Yadav are the Yadav faces in the cabinet, while Bulo represents the Gangota community.Among the upper castes, the Bhumihar community received significant representation through deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary along with Vijay Kumar Sinha and Kumar Shailendra from the BJP. However, no member of the Kayastha community was inducted in place of Nitin Nabin, who is now BJP national president.The BJP inducted Nitish Mishra and Mithilesh Tiwari from the Brahmin community into the cabinet. The Rajput community secured four ministerial berths through Leshi Singh, Sanjay Singh, Sanjay Singh ‘Tiger’ and Shreyasi Singh. Seven ministers belong to Dalit communities — Ashok Choudhary, Ratnesh Sada and Sunil Kumar from the JD(U); Lakhendra Raushan, Nand Kishore Ram and Sanjay Kumar from the BJP; and Santosh Kumar Suman from ally HAM(S). Madan Sahani from the JD(U) and Rama Nishad from the BJP will represent the Mallah (Nishad) community.
