The Nitish Kumar-led NDA Government in Bihar, constituted on Thursday, was expanded on Saturday with the induction of 27 Ministers of which 14 are from JD(U), 11 from BJP and one from lJP. They were administered oath by acting Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi at Raj Bhavan. Originally 27 Ministers were to take oath but the designated Minister Mangal Pandey of BJP could not reach to the ceremony since he was out of State.
Hours before the swearing in fissures appeared in the NDA as Hindustani Awam Morcha founder and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi first refused to join the Ministry and proposed that someone else who is not a legislator and that within the stipulated time frame he should be made an MlC. This condition was rejected by the CM. Manjhi is the only legislator of his party.
Another NDA ally Rashtriya lok Samata Party (RlSP) was not accommodated in the Ministry even though this party has two MlAs. But Nitish again put his foot down and refused to induct anybody from RlSP led by Union MoS Upendra Kushwaha. Sudhanshu Shekhar who was supposed to be made a minister arrived at Raj Bhavan but found no seat and said he did not know why he was rejected.
lJP, headed by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, preferred his brother Pashupati Kumar Paras over his party’s two MlAs. Paras is the only person inducted in the cabinet who is not a member of any House. Asked why he and not any of the two MlAs was made Minister, Paras said, “Party decided and asked me to become Minister.”
Manjhi was angry that his proposal for appointing a non legislator as Minister was turned down but Paswan’s proposal was accepted. “I had proposed three names with request that one should be inducted in the ministry and later on he be accommodated in the Upper House. I don’t know why my proposal was rejected and that of Paswan’s accepted,” said a miffed Manjhi, who is feeling isolated in the NDA.
The JD(U) retained all its Ministers who served in the previous ministry with two new faces. The strength of the new Government is now 29 including CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi. Nand Kishore Yadav, who took oath, said that 14 Ministers from NDA have already been inducted and two more would be included later on.
The only woman in the cabinet is Munju Verma of JD(U) while BJP did not include any woman in its list. The biggest casualties in the cabinet formation have been Yadav (3) and Muslim (1). Five each from Dalits and EBC were made Ministers while Brahmins number increased to seven. Notably, most of the BJP Ministers are loyal to Sushil Modi except Prem Kumar and Nand Kishore Yadav.
Former Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey could not make it to the swearing in ceremony as he was stranded at Chandigarh airport and despite a chartered plane he failed to reach on time. He had gone to Shimla, as he is party’s in-charge of Himachal Pradesh, to attend a meeting.