Patna: A generational shift in the power structure of Bihar is likely to be seen in the cabinet expansion, which is expected on May 6 after the West Bengal and Assam assembly poll results on May 4.Both the BJP and JD(U), as well as other NDA partners like LJP (Ram Vilas), HAM-S and RLM, are preparing to meet the expectations of the next generation. JD(U) is likely to bring in new faces in the ministry to build a team around former chief minister Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar, who has refused to join the govt, at least for now.
Speculation is rife that Nishant will inherit his father’s political legacy to keep JD(U) united and strong. Nishant is keen to avoid the tag of dynasty politics and emerge as a leader on his own by travelling across the state and meeting people. He has already been interacting with party leaders and workers. This follows Nitish’s decision to relinquish the chief minister’s post and his subsequent election to the Rajya Sabha. Nishant is being projected as the future JD(U) chief ministerial face.JD(U) sources said Nitish has chosen his confidant, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, a former State Bank of India officer born in 1957, and 79-year-old Bijendra Prasad Yadav to guide younger leaders likely to be inducted into the cabinet. Among the JD(U) names doing the rounds are Ruhail Ranjan, Komal Singh, Rituraj and Chetan Anand, who support Nishant as the chief ministerial candidate in Bihar.Chirag Paswan already had two young ministers in the previous cabinet, while one berth in the ministry has been reserved for Upendra Kushwaha’s son Deepak, a young and educated leader in the making. He was a minister in Nitish’s cabinet.BJP spokesperson Niraj Kumar cited the example of Nitin Nabin, whom the party made its national president. “PM Narendra Modi has always worked for and promoted women and youth,” he said.With 57-year-old Samrat as chief minister, the BJP is also expected to promote a few new leaders in the ministry. The party will have to accommodate Samrat’s “rival” and former deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha either as the assembly Speaker or the party’s state president to make way for younger ministers, keeping in view next-generation politics where the main players are RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, LJP chief Chirag Paswan and Rashtriya Lok Morcha president Upendra Kushwaha’s son Deepak Prakash.That is why Vijay Kumar Sinha, who congratulated the new chief minister and deputy chief ministers on Wednesday, was asked to propose Samrat’s name for the BJP legislature party leader on Tuesday. However, he vented his ire indirectly, saying, “For years on end, we toiled on the ground, shedding sweat and blood, and making sacrifices. Today, the opportunity has finally arrived to make the ‘lotus’ (BJP poll symbol) bloom. As a soldier of the BJP, and in accordance with the orders of our commander, we proposed the name of Samrat to lead the politics of alliance.”Caste equations, alongside preparing the next generation of leaders, will remain a top priority for both the BJP and JD(U) in the cabinet expansion. Though it may matter less in other states, the BJP is expected to proceed cautiously, keeping in mind the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh next year.JD(U) has already addressed this aspect by appointing Vijay Kumar Choudhary, an upper caste Bhumihar, and Bijendra Prasad Yadav as deputy chief ministers. Its next ministerial choices will be guided by age and caste arithmetic to retain its voter base among extremely backward classes (EBCs) and other backward classes (OBCs).In the context of Bihar’s caste dynamics, the Yadav community constitutes the largest demographic group among the OBCs, but both the BJP and JD(U) are attempting to consolidate the non-Yadav OBC base.
