Bihar cabinet expansion: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday allocated berths after 31 ministers took the oath. The CM has kept Home Ministry with himself and have given Health Ministry to his deputy and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's elder son Tej Pratap has been made Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
CM Kumar has also kept with himself general administration, cabinet secretariat, election and “any other departments not assigned to others”, said an official communication. Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has got key portfolios like health, road construction, urban housing and development and rural works.
Besides the CM and the deputy CM, only Vijay Kumar Chaudhary (finance, commercial tax and parliamentary affairs) and Bijendra Yadav (power and planning and development) have got more than one portfolios.
After assuming the charge, deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said, "This is the govt of poor people in Bihar. We'll work together to fulfill our promises. Since the new govt has been formed, there are discussions about employment & development... We have people from all castes, including backwards, minorities & Dalits."
HERE IS THE FULL LIST
Ministers - Portfolio
- Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (JD-U) - Home, Vigilance, Cabinet Secretariat, and all other departments which are yet to be allotted
- Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav RJD - Health, Road construction,Urban Development, Housing, Rural Works
- Vijay Kumar Chaudhary (JD-U) - Finance, Parliamentary Affairs, Trade Tax
- Bijendra Prasad Yadav (JD-U) - Energy, Planning and Development
- Alok Kumar Mehta (RJD) - Revenue and Land Development
- Tej Pratap Yadav (RJD) - Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- Afaque Alam (Congress) - Animal Husbandry and Fisheries
- Ashok Chaudhary (JD-U) - Building Construction
- Shrawan Kumar (JD-U) - Rural Development
- Surendra Prasad Yadab RJD - Co-operative
- Ramanand Yadav RJD - Mining
- Leshi Singh (JD-U)- Food and Consumer Protection
- Madan Sahani (JD-U) - Social Welfare
- Kumar Sarvjit RJD - Tourism
- Lalit Kumar Yadav RJD - Public Health Engineering
- Santosh Kumar Suman HAM - SC/ST WelfareSheela Kumari (JD-U) - Transport
- Sameer Kumar Mahaseth RJD - Industry
- Chandra Shekhar RJD - Education
- Sumit Kumar Singh (Independent) - Science and Technology
- Sunil Kumar (JD-U) - Excise and Prohibition
- Anita Devi RJD - Backward Classes Welfare Department
- Jitendra Kumar Rai RJD- Art, Culture and Youth Affairs
- Jayant Raj (JD-U) - Minor Water Resources
- Sudhakar Singh RJD - Agriculture
- Md Jama Khan (JD-U) - Minority Welfare
- Murari Prasad Gautam (Congress) - Panchayati Raj
- Kartik Kumar RJD - Law
- Shamim Ahmed RJD - Sugarcane Industry
- Shahnawaz RJD - Disaster Management
- Surendra Ram RJD - Labour Resource Department
- Md Israil Mansuri RJD - Information and Technology
Earlier in the day, 31 ministers took oath, with the RJD getting a lion’s share, and care having been taken to represent all sections of the society, including the minorities. Among the ministers who took oath, 16 were from RJD, 11 from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), two from Congress, one from ex-CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and one Independent.
The number of Muslims in the new cabinet is five, up from only one in the previous NDA government that fell last week after the chief minister severed ties with the BJP.
The RJD has, predictably, given a significant number of seven berths to Yadavs, including Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of party president Lalu Prasad.
It, however, also gave representation to the upper castes in keeping with the wider social outreach by deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.
Among those from the RJD quota were Kartikeya Singh, a Bhumihar MLC, and Sudhakar Singh, a Rajput, whose father Jagadanand Singh is currently the state president. The JD(U) has retained its ministers from the previous dispensation. The Congress is represented by a Dalit and a Muslim.
