Blueprint Ready For Nitish Kumar Cabinet, Talks Held With Amit Shah: Sources

A broad consensus has been reached on the formation of the cabinet of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Bihar. The oath ceremony will be held on November 20. Sources said leaders of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United have held talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in Delhi. 

Sources said there is also a chance that a woman could be picked for the post of the Deputy Chief Minister.

The cabinet will address regional equations and accommodate all parties of the alliance, not just a single party, sources said. There will be two new entrants for ministerial berths. Parties of Chirag Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha will also receive representation.

In terms of caste equations, the previous government had 11 upper castes, 10 OBCs, seven EBCs, five Dalits, two Mahadalits, and one Muslim in the cabinet.

This time, the NDA has 15 Yadav MLAs, 23 Kurmis, 19 Kushwahas, 23 Vaishyas, 31 Rajputs, 15 Bhumihar, 15 Brahmin, 2 Kayasthas, 10 Extremely Backward Class, 34 SC, one tribal, and one Muslim MLAs.
The caste issue in cabinet will be determined based on the basis of these numbers, sources said.

The BJP may elect a Speaker and two Deputy Chief Ministers keeping the caste balance in mind, sources said. If the Speaker belongs to an upper caste, the Deputy Chief Minister could be from an OBC/EBC or Dalit background - or the other way around.  

A maximum of 36 ministers, including the Chief Minister, can be appointed in the state and sources said some positions in the cabinet could be kept vacant. Being the largest party, the BJP is likely to have the largest number of ministers.

In the outgoing government, there were 21 ministers from the BJP, 13 from the JDU (including the Chief Minister), one from the HAM, and one Independent.

This time, Chirag Paswan may have two ministers and Upendra Kushwaha one. Sources said Raju Tiwari from Chirag Paswan's party is being considered for one of the ministerial berths. Upendra Kushwaha's wife Snehlata Kushwaha could also become a minister.

Region-wise, the ruling alliance had strong success in areas like Shahabad, Magadh, Mithila, and Saran so they will get adequate representation. Several ministers from the current government may be reappointed.

Sources indicated that the list could include BJP's Nitin Naveen, Sanjay Sarawagi, Jibesh Mishra, Nitish Mishra, Dr. Sunil Kumar, and Vijay Kumar Mandal. Former Union Minister Ramkripal Yadav, who won this election, may also be included.

From the JDU, Shravan Kumar, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Ashok Chaudhary, and Bijendra Prasad Yadav may be re-elected. There is also talk of a possible inclusion of Randhir Singh, son of former MP Prabhunath Singh.

"All preparations have been made for the oath ceremony... This is the swearing-in ceremony of a new flight of the development in Bihar," said BJP leader Nitin Nabin. 

"Preparations are being made to see how we can have a celebratory environment... Chief Ministers from various states are coming here. The Prime Minister, the Home Minister and several other Union Ministers are coming... Bihar will celebrate this like a festival," he added.