Nitish allocates portfolios, keeps home and vigilance
Tarkishore gets finance, forest, commercial tax, environment and disaster management, urban development and information technology departments
A day ater taking oath for a new term along with his ministerial colleagues, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday allocated porfolios among them, keeping with himself home, general administration, vigilance and three more departments.
Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad got finance, commercial tax, environment, forest and disaster management, urban development and information technology departments.
Another Deputy CM Renu Devi got panchayati raj, backward classes development, ECB and industry porfolios.
Ashok Chaudhary got the charge of building construction, social welfare, minority affairs, and Mewa Lal Chaudhary the education porfolio.
Interestingly, Chaudhary had lost the cabinet birth last time ater his name cropped up in an alleged scam in the recruitment of lecturers in an agriculture university.
Vijay Kumar Chaudhary got the charge of rural development, rural engineering, water resources, information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs.
Sheela Kumari got transport, and Santosh Kumar Sharan SC/ST affairs and minor irrigation.
Mukesh Sahani is the new Minister for animal husbandry and fisheries.
Man gal pan deyh as retained the health p or folio, apart from road construction, art and culture.
Amrendra Pratap Singh has got the agriculture, cooperatives and sugarcane porfolios.
Ram Preet Paswan has got the charge of public health engineering and Ram Surat Kumar the revenue and law porfolios.
Jivesh Kumar will shoulder the responsibility of tourism, mines and labour departments.
With Nitish facing criticism over inclusion of Choudhary in his cabinet, a former senior IPS officer has further sparked a row by writing to DGP Bihar seeking a detailed investigation into the allegedly mysterious death of Choudhary’s wife.
Amitabh Kumar Das, an IPS officer of Bihar cadre, has levelled serious allegations against Choudhary and claimed that the mysterious death of his wife Neeta could be a political conspiracy with links to a recruitment scam allegedly perpetrated by Choudhary.
Das had taken voluntary retirement in 2018. “I have information about the mysterious death of Neeta Choudhary. Her death could be a part of deep political conspiracy. Her death is connected to the recruitment scam,” Das said in a leter.
Former MLA Neeta Choudhary was found with serious burn injuries at her home on May 27, 2019 and succumbed to her injuries on June 2, 2019.
“The Bihar police had taken swit action in mysterious death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. I firmly believe that Bihar police will do the same in this case too. I am expecting the Bihar police to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe her death and quiz ML Choudhary in this case,” Das said.
IANS has a copy of the leter writen by Das to DGP Bihar.
Asked why he had writen to Bihar DGP AK Singhal, Das said: “I have served for 24 years as IPS officer in Bihar. As a responsible citizen, it is my duty to point out wrongdoing in society,” added Das.
Meanwhile, BJP President JP Nadda, citing the recent Bihar elections and bypoll wins, claimed that it is a “clear verdict” for Narendra Modi.
“The people of Bihar have spoken clearly that they want ‘vikas raj’ and not ‘goonda raj.’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ended the politics of casteism, dynasty politics, and appeasement,” the BJP president said.
In what seems to be a subtle dig aimed at Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik without naming him, Nadda on Tuesday highlighted the differences between “parties run from home” and “parties run from party offices,” while inaugurating new party offices in six districts of Odisha -- Angul, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Baripada, Kyonjhar and Denkanal -- through a video conference.
“BJP offices are just not buildings or concrete structures, they are centres for BJP workers to get trained and inculcate values. In our offices, our workers get inspiration to work for the party dedicatedly and with passion. When parties are run from homes rather than offices, they become parties run by families. But for the workers, party offices become their homes and fellow workers their family members,” Nadda said.