In Nitish Kumar 10.0 Cabinet, Big Change As JDU Boss Hands Home To BJP

Nitish Kumar led his Janata Dal to an emphatic win in last week's Bihar election, picking up 85 of the state's 243 seats – 42 more than its 2015 result and only four fewer than allies BJP – and retained his hold on the Chief Minister's chair, but the wily politician won't have it all his way.

The 74-year-old has surrendered the Home Ministry portfolio, his for nearly two decades, to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Samrat Choudhary, who returns as the JDU boss' deputy.

Vijay Sinha, the other BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister, has been given the Revenue and Mines ministries in allotments confirmed Friday night. BJP leaders were also given the critical Agriculture (Ram Kripal Yadav), Backward Classes Welfare (Rama Nishad), Disaster Management (Narayan Prasad), Industries (Dilip Jaiswal), and Labour (Sanjay Singh Tiger) posts.

And ex-Bihar BJP boss Mangal Pandey has been given a double charge – Health and Law.

Other posts given to the BJP are Road and Housing (Nitin Nabin), SC & ST Welfare (Lakhendra Raushan), Tourism (Arun Shankar Prasad), IT and Sports (Shreyasi Singh), Fisheries and Animal Resources (Surendra Mehata), and Environment and Climate Change (Pramod Kumar).

The JDU got the Social Welfare (Madan Sahni), Rural Works (Ashok Choudhary), Food and Consumer Protection (Leshi Singh), Rural Development and Transport (Shrawon Kumar), Water Resources (VK Choudhary), Energy (Vijendra Yadav), and Education (Sunil Kumar) berths.

Smaller allies were given the Sugarcane Industry and Public Health Engineering departments (these went to the Lok Janshakti Party), the Minor Water Resources (to the Hindustan Awam Morcha), and Panchayati Raj (to the Rashtriya Lok Manch).

On Nitish's Home Ministry 'surrender'

Nitish Kumar first took charge of Bihar's Home Department – among the most prized in any state or federal set-up in India – in November 2005 and has held it almost ever since.

The exception was between May 2014 and February 2015; he resigned after the JDU flopped in the 2014 federal election and Hindustan Awam Morcha's Jitan Manjhi took over both posts.

Ceding it to the BJP, therefore, has been seen as a big statement, including an acknowledgement the saffron party is the 'big brother', at least for now, in their relationship.

The BJP and JDU contested the 2020 election together as well. On that occasion Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party won 74 seats, one fewer than the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal.

The JDU, however, collapsed, dropping 28 seats to limp home a distant third.

There was speculation the BJP would exploit its advantage to claim the Chief Minister's post from Nitish. That did not happen; Nitish retained the position and the Home Minister berth but settled for two deputies from the BJP. Fast-forward five years, and the JDU has bounced back.

There is, now, no disputing Nitish Kumar returning as Chief Minister.

The BJP, though, remains the larger party in the alliance, a fact underlined by its having 14 faces in the first iteration of the tenth Nitish Kumar cabinet. The JDU, by contrast, has only nine.

Giving up the Home Ministry also suggests the start of a post-Nitish Bihar political scene, with the 57-year-old Samrat Choudhary, possibly, even being groomed to take over in the future.

Nitish Kumar had to face questions over his physical and mental abilities in this campaign, and taking this post away suggests the ruling alliance has begun a form of succession planning.

Taking it away from the JDU leader (and not giving him any explicit charge) could also allow him, some analysts have said, to focus on the larger issues, i.e., governance rather than add the law-and-order situation to the mix, particularly with the 'jungle raj' epithet never far from the surface.

Nitish Kumar 10.0

Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Chief Minister for a record-extending tenth time on Thursday.

READ | Nitish Kumar Takes Oath As Bihar Chief Minister For Record 10th Time

The JDU boss – dismissed by his critics as too old and unfit for power – had the last laugh at Patna's Gandhi Maidan. And he will have another if he can complete his term, for he will then be India's longest-serving Chief Minister, eclipsing the mark set by Sikkim's Pawan Chamling.