Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was the only person who took oath along with Nitish last week.
Nitish retained the Home, General Administration and Cabinet Secretariat portfolios, while the JD(U) got 11 out of 31 cabinet slots in the ministry expansion, maintaining the status quo in representation as the party had 12 berths (of CMs) in the previous NDA government. count).
The Congress got two, one each for the HAM-S and an independent MLA. Three berths were left vacant to accommodate possible defections from the opposition or the Left, if they decide to join the government, the sources said.
Tejashwi got health, road construction, rural works and urban development portfolios, all of which received a major chunk of the budgetary allocation.
Tejashwi’s elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav got the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department in the state cabinet expansion on Tuesday. Tej Pratap took over the health department during his ministerial cut in the first Grand Alliance government in 2015. Tejashwi had kept that berth this time.
There are eight Yadavs and five Muslims in the new cabinet in terms of caste and community arithmetic, which are reviving Lalu PrasadTried “my” equation. The cabinet has three women, six ministers each from upper and scheduled castes and two ministers each from Kurmi and Kushwaha communities.
Sameer Mahaseth is the sole representative of the Vaish (business) community. Three – Sheela Kumari, Anita Devi and Madan Sahni – come from the category of extremely backward castes.
After the allocation of ministerial posts on Tuesday, all eyes will now be on the Speaker as the Grand Alliance 2.0 government faces a floor test in the Assembly on August 24.
Former Deputy Chief Minister alleging ‘social imbalance’ in the cabinet Sushil Kumar The BJP’s Modi said only two communities – Muslims and Yadavs – have achieved “more than 33 per cent” berths, and castes such as Kanu, Teli, Kalwar and Kayastha have not received any representation. Sushil Modi also questioned their alleged “marginalization” given the size of the population of highly backward castes. He told TOI, “Renu Devi was made deputy CM by BJP, but this time no minister from the group was considered for the post of deputy CM.”
The RJD brought 10 in the cabinet for the first time in Samir Kumar Mahaseth (Industry), Ramanand Yadav (Mines and Geology), Kumar Sarvjeet (Tourism), Jitendra Kumar Rai (Arts, Culture and Youth Affairs). Sudhakar Singh (Agriculture), Kartik Kumar (Law), Shamim Ahmadi (Sugarcane Industries), Mohammad Shahnawaz (Disaster Management), Surendra Rami (Labor Resources) and Mohamed Israel Mansoori (IT).
Both Congress ministers – Afkaye Alam (Animal and Fisheries Resources) and Murari Prasad Gautam (Panchayati Raj) are also making their cabinet debuts. HAM-S’s Santosh Kumar Suman and Independent Sumit Kumar Singh complete the line-up. In the 33-strong cabinet, five – CM Nitish, Ashok Choudhary, Sanjay Jha, Santosh Suman and Karthik Kumar – are members of the state legislative council.
watch Bihar cabinet expansion: RJD dominates the government, Nitish kept it in the house, Tejashwi got health