In an apparent replay of the 2020 NDA regime in Patna, the new Bihar government on February 3 allocated portfolios to its six Ministers, along with the Chief Minister and two Deputy CMs. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar retained the Home portfolio, while giving away Finance and Health to the BJP. The two Deputy CMs will hold nine portfolios each, while the CM holds five, as well as other unallocated portfolios.
The Ministers in the new NDA government took their oath of office on January 28. The Cabinet is likely to be expanded after the upcoming Budget Session of the State legislature, which is scheduled to begin on February 12. The new Cabinet is expected to strongly resemble the one during the NDA’s 2020 tenure in the State, a BJP source told The Hindu.
Mr. Kumar has held the key Home portfolio since November 2005, and continues to hold it now, along with General Administration, Vigilance, Cabinet Secretariat, and all other portfolios which have not been allocated as yet.
Balancing responsibilities
The two Deputy CMs — BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha — were allocated nine portfolios each, including Finance, Health, Road Construction, Agriculture, Urban Development, Public Health, and Engineering, among others. The other senior BJP leader in the Cabinet, Prem Kumar, has been given the Tourism, Cooperatives, Backward and Extremely Backward Classes, Disaster Management, Environment, Forest & Climate Change departments.
The Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Santosh Kumar Suman, son of party chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, was given the Information Technology and Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes Welfare departments. Mr. Manjhi had recently created a stir within the ruling alliance by demanding two Cabinet portfolios for his party, as he claimed that he was being offered the CM’s post by the Opposition mahagathbandhan , adding that he had already discussed the issue with the “top leadership of the NDA”.
Sumit Kumar Singh, the only Independent in the Cabinet, will hold the Science, Technology and Technical Education portfolio.
Senior JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary too once again given the Education Department which he had to forgo in the RJD-led mahagathbandhan government, formed in August 2022. Along with this, he also has got Water Resources, Parliamentary Affairs, Building Construction, Transport and Information and Public Relation Departments. Similarly, the other senior JD(U) leaders Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Shrawan Kumar retained their portfolios of Energy and Rural Developments. Besides, they also got Planning & Development, Prohibition and Excise, Minority Welfare, Social Welfare and Food & Consumer Protection Departments and others.
Cabinet expansion
The final portfolio distribution among Ministers would take place after the expected Cabinet expansion, a senior State BJP leader told The Hindu. Out of the 243 members of the State Assembly, 36 could be appinted as Cabinet Ministers.
“After the Cabinet expansion, the portfolios of the Ministers too will be redistributed, but it would largely be the same as it was during the 2020 NDA government,” the BJP leader said. Meanwhile, the two Deputy CMs from the BJP are likely to go to Delhi in a day or two to meet the party’s top leadership and finalise the names of party leaders to be appointed as Ministers when the Cabinet is expanded.
