Majority of the Bihar Ministers are accused in criminal cases, in some cases cognisance taken, charges framed but none has been convicted. Of the 29 Ministers, including Chief Minister, 19 are facing criminal cases. At least three of them are accused in murder and attempt to murder cases, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Agriculture Minister Ram Vichar Rai of the RJD is accused in a murder case, while Industries Minister Jai Kumar Singh of JD(U) is facing cases of attempt to murder, extortion and causing miscarriage without woman’s consent and theft. Cane industries Minister Khurshid Firoz Ahmad of JD(U) is also accused in theft and other cases while Cooperative Minister Alok Kumar Mehta and labour Minister Vijay Prakash, both of RJD are facing charges related to rioting, bribery and criminal intimidation.
The cases in which they are involved have been mentioned by them in their election affidavits and have been compiled by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Bihar Election Watch (BEW), the two election watchdogs.
CM Nitish Kumar is also facing murder and attempt to murder cases as mentioned by him in his affidavit filed before the Election Commission in 2012 at the time of Bihar legislative Council polls.
Other Ministers facing criminal charges include Deputy CM Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, Shiv Chandra Ram, Chandrika Rai, Santosh Kumar Nirala, Chandra Shekhar, Muneshwar Chaudhary, Shrawan Kumar, Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Shailesh Kumar, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Madan Sahni and Kapildeo Kamat. They are facing minor charges like disobedience, wrongful confinement, breach of trust, voluntary causing hurt, house trespass, public nuisance, assault, mischief etc.