Bihar Cabinet Expansion at 11 AM; Former RJD Leaders Among Four Front Runners to Join Nitish Government

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, JDU won 16 seats in Bihar, while the BJP bagged 17. The BJP is sharing power in the Bihar government with its leader Sushil Kumar Modi as the Deputy Chief Minister.

New Delhi: Days after deciding not be a part of Narendra Modi’s new Cabinet,  Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set to expand his Council of Ministers on Sunday. Four new Ministers from the Janata Dal(U) –Shyam Rajak, Neeraj Singh, Ashok Chaudhary, Ram Sevak Kushwaha, Narendra Narayan Yadav, and Sanjay Jha are said to be among front runners for the ministerial berths.

Rajak, who used to be an RJD leader joined the JD(U) later.  He was even a member of Kumar’s ministry earlier. Similarly, Ashok Chaudhary, former Bihar unit Congress chief, was a minister in JDU-RJD-Congress coalition government in 2015. He also defected to JD(U).

The Cabinet expansion is likely to take place at 11 AM at the Raj Bhavan. “There could be 11 more Ministers in the Cabinet but tomorrow only four are likely to take oath,” a JD(U) leader told a leading portal.

Earlier on Thursday, the JD(U) decided to not be a part of  Modi-led central government, saying it would not accept the BJP’s offer of only one ministerial berth.

“They (BJP) wanted only one person from JD(U) in the cabinet, so it would have been just symbolic participation. We informed them that we do not need it (Cabinet berth),” Kumar had said.

However, after attending Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, the Bihar CM asserted,”It is not a big issue. We are fully in the NDA and not upset at all. We are working together. There is no confusion.”