Shahnawaz in Nitish Cabinet, 16 other new Bihar mantris

The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar Cabinet was expanded on Tuesday with the induction of 17 ministers, of whom nine are from the BJP and eight from the JD(U). Prominent among them is senior BJP leader and former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain, who took the oath in Urdu. He has been given the industry portfolio.

Shahnawaz Hussain is a three-time Lok Sabha MP from Bhagalpur and is considered a popular Muslim face in Bihar especially in Seemanchal. He could not fight the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as his constituency went to the JD(U). Last month, he was elected to the Bihar Legislative Council.

Others from the BJP inducted into the Bihar Cabinet was Nitin Navin, from Bankipur constituency in Patna, MLC Samrat Chaudhury, Neeraj Singh Babloo, a close relative of deceased Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Saharsa MLA Alok Ranjan Jha and Subhash Singh from Gopalganj constituency.

On the other hand, the JD(U) has retained several of its experienced faces like Shravan Kumar, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Madan Sahani and Lessi Singh.

Among the new faces, the JD(U) has included first-timers like Jayant Raj, who won from Amarpur constituency in Banka district, former IPS officer Sunil Kumar, MLA Sumit Singh and Jama Khan, who had won the Assembly election on a BSP ticket from Chainpur constituency in Kaimur district but later joined the JD(U).

Several new faces, especially from the BJP, were taken into the Cabinet. Senior leaders like Nand Kishore Yadav and Prem Kumar have not found a place.

As per one assessment, both parties (JD-U and BJP) had taken caste and regional representation into consideration in the selection of ministers. “Whenever there is Cabinet expansion, we try and consider the representation of every section of society. I would urge all ministers to work for the development of Bihar”, chief minister Nitish Kumar said in a statement after the oath-taking ceremony.

This was the first expansion of the Nitish Kumar ministry after it came back to power in November 2020. Last year, Mr Kumar took the oath as Bihar CM along with 14 ministers.

The BJP, with 74 seats, is the largest party in the Bihar assembly while its partner, the JD(U), has gone down to the third position after it could win only 43 seats. Two other NDA partners — Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Vikasheel Insan Party (VIP) — got four each in the Assembly elections.

However, political analysts note that despite its reduced tally, the JD(U) managed to retain key portfolios like home, personnel and education. After the expansion on Tuesday, the BJP now has 16 ministers and the JD(U) has 13 ministers.