- Twenty-two ministers will take oath with Nitish Kumar in Bihar's new NDA government
- Nine BJP MLAs, 10 JDU MLAs, and three others from their allies to join the cabinet
- BJP ministers include leaders from Bhumihar, EBC, Brahman, Rajput, Kayastha, Vaishya groups
Twenty-two ministers are expected to take the oath of office along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tomorrow during the grand swearing-in ceremony of the new NDA government in Bihar, according to top sources in the ruling coalition.
The sources have said nine MLAs from the BJP, 10 from JDU, and one each from Chirag Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas), Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awami Morcha, and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha may take the oath tomorrow.
From the BJP's quota, Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Sinha, Nitin Navin, Renu Devi, Mangal Pandey, Neeraj Bablu, Sanjay Sarawagi, Hari Sahni, and Rajnish Kumar may take the oath. Eight out of these nine leaders were ministers in the outgoing government.
BJP has tried to strike a caste balance by accommodating two Bhumihar leaders, two from EBC, and one each from the Brahman and Rajput communities. It has also accommodated the Kayastha and Vaishya groups.
From the JDU quota, 10 MLAs are likely to be sworn in at the Gandhi Maidan event tomorrow. These are Vijay Choudhary, Shrawan Kumar, Ashok Choudhary, Zama Khan, Ratnesh Sada, Leshi Singh, Bijender Yadav, Shyam Rajak, Sunil Kumar and Damodar Rawat. Eight of these MLAs were ministers in the outgoing government.
The JDU, too, has balanced caste equations in its ministerial choices, with four Dalits and the representation of Muslims, Yadavs, EBCs, Rajputs and Bhumihars.
Raju Tiwari, a Brahmin and state chief of Chirag Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas), may represent his party in the new cabinet. Jitan Ram Manjhi's son Santosh Suman and Upendra Kushwaha's wife Snehlata Kushwaha are also likely to be sworn in.
Nitish Kumar will be taking the oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the 10th time tomorrow after the NDA posted a mammoth victory in the Assembly polls last week. The NDA won 202 seats in the 243-member Assembly. Tomorrow's event at Patna's historic Gandhi Maidan is being planned as an NDA show of strength. Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Ministers of all BJP-ruled states are expected to be present at the event.
