Nitish's son among 32 new ministers to join Bihar govt

Bihar's political landscape shifts as 32 new ministers, including Nitish Kumar's son, are inducted into the expanded BJP-led NDA cabinet, signalling a major power realignment.

Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar joins Bihar cabinet

IMAGE: Nitish Kumar with his son Nishant Kumar. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points

Bihar's BJP-led government expands with 32 new ministers from NDA constituents.
Nishant Kumar, son of JD-U leader Nitish Kumar, joins the Bihar cabinet.
The BJP secures 15 ministerial positions in the expanded Bihar government.
Key leaders from JD-U, LJP, and HAM also inducted into the Bihar cabinet.
Most inductees were part of the previous Nitish Kumar cabinet formed in November.

In a major expansion of the Cabinet of Bihar's first Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, Janata Dal-United supremo Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar and 31 others took oath as ministers on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Key Inductees and Political Representation

Altogether 32 leaders, drawn from all constituents of the five-party National Democratic Alliance in the state, were administered the oath of office by Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain at a grand ceremony that was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister J P Nadda and BJP president Nitin Nabin.

Prominent inductees included Nishant Kumar, the son of JD-U president Nitish Kumar, who stepped down as chief minister last month to enter the Rajya Sabha.

Party Representation in the Expanded Cabinet

The BJP, which is the single largest party in the 243-member assembly with 89 MLAs, has 15 ministers, who took oath on Thursday.

Most of the inductees were those who were part of the Nitish Kumar cabinet formed in November last year after the NDA stormed back to power in the assembly polls.

JD-U and Other Parties' Presence

The JD-U is represented by a total of 15 ministers, 13 of whom took the oath at the Gandhi Maidan on Thursday.

Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav had taken oath in April along with Samrat Choudhary and were designated as deputy chief ministers.

Sanjay Kumar Singh and Sanjay Kumar Paswan, both from the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan, are back as ministers, and so are Santosh Kumar Suman and Deepak Prakash, sons of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, respectively.