As many as 31 Ministers, including five from Muslim and three women legislators, took oath as Ministers of new ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand-alliance) government in Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Most of the JD(U) Ministers were retained in the Cabinet while leaders close to RJD leader and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav were inducted into the Cabinet.
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Among those 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 31 new Ministers also included five Muslims and three women legislators in the new government in Bihar. The number of Muslims in the new cabinet is five, up from only one in the previous NDA government that fell last week after Mr. Kumar 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. Tej Pratap Yadav will be the new Environment Minister of the State.
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.
List of Ministers in new Bihar cabinet, their parties and portfolios:
(While Nitish Kumar and his deputy were sworn in six days ago on August 10, the remaining 31 Ministers took their oath on Tuesday.)
1. Nitish Kumar – Party: (JDU) – Department: Chief Minister; General Administration; Home; Cabinet Secratariat; Monitoring; Election; all such departments which are not allotted to anybody.
2. Tejashwi Yadav – Party: RJD – Department: Deputy CM; Health; Road Construction; Urban Development and Housing; Rural Works.
3. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary – Party: (JDU) – Department: Finance; Commercial Tax; Parliamentary Affairs.
4. Bijendra Yadav – Party: (JDU) – Department: Energy; Planning and Development.
5. Shravan Kumar – Party: (JDU) – Department: Rural Development.
6. Ashok Choudhary – Party: (JDU) – Department: Building Construction.
7. Leshi Singh – Party: (JDU) – Department: Food and Consumer Protection.
8. Sanjay Jha – Party: (JDU) – Department: Water Resources; Information and Public Relations.
9. Madan Sahni – Party: (JDU) – Department: Social Welfare.
10. Sheela Kumari – Party: (JDU) – Department: Transport
11. Sunil Kumar – Party: (JDU) – Department: Prohibition, Products and Restrictions.
12. Mohd Zama Khan – Party: (JDU) – Department: Minority Welfare.
13. Jayant Raj – Party: (JDU) – Department: Minor Water Resources.
14. Tej Pratap Yadav – Party: RJD – Department: Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
15. Alok Mehta – Party: RJD – Department: Revenue and Land Reforms.
16. Surendra Prasad Yadav – Party: RJD – Department: Revenue and Land Reforms.
17. Ramanand Yadav – Party: RJD – Department: Public Health Engineering.
18. Kumar Sarvajeet – Party: RJD – Department: Tourism
19. Lalit Yadav – Party: RJD – Department: Mines and Geology
20. Samir Kumar Mahaseth – Party: RJD – Department: Industry
21. Chandrashekhar – Party: RJD – Department: Education
22. Jitendra Kumar Rai – Party: RJD – Department: Art, Culture and Youth
23. Anita Devi – Party: RJD – Department: Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes Welfare
24. Sudhakar Singh – Party: RJD – Department: Agriculture
25. Md. Israil Mansuri – Party: RJD – Department: Information Technology
26. Surendra Ram – Party: RJD – Department: Labour Resources
27. Kartikeya Singh – Party: RJD – Department: Law
28. Shahnawaz Alam – Party: RJD – Department: Disaster Management
29. Shamim Ahmed – Party: RJD – Department: Sugercane Industry
30. Afaque Alam – Party: Congress – Department: Animal & Fisheries Resources
31. Murari Gautam – Party: Congress – Department: Panchayati Raj
32. Santosh Kumar Suman – Party: HAM – Department: SC/ST Welfare
33. Sumit Kumar Singh – Independent – Department: Science and Technology
(With inputs from PTI.)
