As the cabinet expansion in Bihar took place on Tuesday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has retained the Home Minister and General Administration portfolios in the newly formed Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar.
However, the Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav will become the new Health Minister.
Kumar has called for the first Cabinet meeting at 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday where the new Ministers received their portfolios.
“Now Bihar will move on the path of development with full speed,” said the Chief Minister.
Besides Nitish and Tejashwi, JD-U’s Vijay Kumar Choudhary is expected to become the new Bihar Finance Minister.
The RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav was given charge of Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
As per sources, JD-U has retained all its previous Ministers and their portfolios will remain same as it was during the previous NDA government in Bihar.
JD-U has 12 Ministers, including Nitish Kumar in the new government.
The Ministers coming under the RJD and Congress quota will take over the portfolios earlier allotted to the BJP during the NDA government.
Here is the full list of ministers in the Nitish Kumar cabinet:
1. Tej Pratap Yadav, RJD
2. Alok Kumar Mehta, RJD
3. Anita Devi, RJD
4. Surendra Prasad Yadav, RJD
5. Chandra Shekhar, RJD
6. Lalit Yadav, RJD
7. Jitendra Kumar Rai, RJD
8. Rama Nand Yadav, RJD
9. Sudhakar Singh, RJD
10. Kumar Sarvjeet, RJD
11. Surendra Ram, RJD
12. Shamim Ahmad, RJD
13. Mohammed Shahnawaz Alam, RJD
14. Mohammad Israil Mansuri, RJD
15. Kartik Singh, RJD
16. Samir Kumar Mahaseth, RJD
17. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, JD(U)
18. Bijendra Prasad Yadav, JD(U)
19. Ashok Choudhary, JD(U)
20. Sheela Mandal, JD(U)
21. Shrawan Kuma, JD(U)
22. Sanjay Jha, JD(U)
23. Leshi Singh, JD(U)
24. Mohd Zama Khan, JD(U)
25. Jayant Raj Kushwaha, JD(U)
26. Madan Sahni, JD(U)
27. Sunil Kumar, JD(U)
28. Md Afaque Alam, Congress
29. Murari Prasad Gautam, Congress
30. Santosh Suman Manjhi, HAM
31. Sumit Singh, Independent
Of the 31 ministers sworn into the Bihar cabinet, 16 were from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), 11 were from Nitish’s Janta Dal-United (JD-U), two were from Congress and one was from Hindustani Awam Morch (HAM) and one was an Independent lawmaker.
The new ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan at Raj Bhavan here.
Two legislators from the Congress, one from Jitin Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and the lone Independent MLA, Sumit Kumar Singh, also took oath as cabinet ministers.
From RJD, Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav’s brother Tej Pratap Yadav, Samir Kumar Mahaseth, Chandrashekhar, Kumar Sarvajeet, Lalit Yadav, Surendra Prasad Yadav, Ramanand Yadav, Jitendra Kumar Rai, Anita Devi and Sudhakar Singh and Alok Mehta took oath.
Congress legislators Afaque Alam and Murari Lal Gautam were inducted into the cabinet as ministers, while Hindustani Awam Morcha’s Santosh Suman was also sworn in.
As per sources, the Bihar cabinet can accommodate upto 36 ministers, including the Chief Minister.
However, some ministerial berths will be kept vacant for future cabinet expansion, added the sources.
The Chief Minister and his deputy – RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav – took oath on August 10.
The new government is likely to prove majority in the Bihar assembly on August 24.