Nitish Kumar expands Bihar cabinet, inducts seven BJP ministers ahead of elections
text_fields
In a strategic move ahead of the upcoming Bihar elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expanded his council of ministers by inducting seven new members, all from the BJP.
With this expansion, the cabinet has now reached its maximum strength of 36 in the 243-member assembly.
The swearing-in ceremony took place on Wednesday, with Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administering the oath of office to the newly inducted ministers. The political move comes as Bihar prepares for its state elections later this year.
Among the notable inductees was Jibesh Kumar, who previously held a cabinet position until August 2022, when Nitish Kumar exited the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), accusing the BJP of attempting to split his party, JD(U).
Other new ministers include:
- Sanjay Saraogi – A five-term MLA from Darbhanga.
- Sunil Kumar – Represents Bihar Sharif in Nalanda, a stronghold of Nitish Kumar. Formerly with JD(U), he joined BJP in 2015.
- Raju Kumar Singh – MLA from Sahebganj, who initially won on a Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) ticket but joined BJP in 2022.
- Krishna Kumar Mantu – MLA from Amnour. He was recently in the news for his "Kurmi Chetna Rally" in Patna.
- Vijay Kumar Mandal – Represents Sikti in Araria district.
- Moti Lal Prasad – MLA from Riga in Sitamarhi.
The induction of these seven BJP leaders appears to be a carefully planned move, aimed at strengthening the party’s support base. The BJP’s national president had chaired a core group meeting in Bihar just a day before the expansion.
A key observation is the representation of upper-caste leaders, with Jibesh Kumar (Bhumihar) and Raju Kumar Singh (Rajput) among the new ministers. Upper castes, comprising a little over 10% of Bihar's population, have traditionally been a strong vote bank for the BJP.
Additionally, six out of the seven new ministers hail from regions north of the Ganges, where the NDA has been performing better compared to the RJD-Congress-Left alliance.
On the same day, Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal resigned from his ministerial post, citing the party’s "one person, one post" policy. Jaiswal previously held the Revenue and Land Reforms Ministry in the state government.