Nitish sworn in as Bihar CM for 10th time; deputy CMs retained

NItish Kumar took swearing as the chief government minister of Bihar for a register 10th clip on th at a grand ceremony in Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan, completing an extraordinary political triumph that saw the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) score a landslide victory in the recently concluded elections.After Kumar, his two deputies Samrat Choudhury and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were sworn in. Twenty-four other ministers — eight from the Janata Dal (United), 14 from the BJP, two from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and one each from the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha — took oath in batches of six.Nine other cabinet berths will be filled later, bringing the total to the constitutionally mandated limit of 36. The portfolios will be announced on Friday, said a senior JD(U) leader who asked not to be named.Those present at the function included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Dharmendra Pradhan, Anupriya Patel, Giriraj Singh, Nityanand Rai, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, and the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers from 13 states.“Congratulations to Shri Nitish Kumar ji on taking oath as Bihar’s chief minister. He is an experienced administrator with a proven track record of good governance for many years. My best wishes to him for his tenure ahead,” Modi said on X. After the ceremony, Modi also waved the traditional Bihari gamcha.The lone minister from the RLM was Deepak Prakash, the son of party chief Upendra Kushwaha. Prakash, 36, is not a member of either the legislative assembly or legislative council but is tipped to be up for election to the state’s upper chamber within the mandatory six months.“There is a provision in the Constitution that one could be a member without being a member of any House for six months. The requirement will be fulfilled by that time,” Prakash told the press.The only minister from HAM(S) was Santosh Kumar Suman, the son of party chief and Union minister Manjhi. Suman, 50, was a minister in the previous Nitish Kumar cabinet and is a member of the Bihar Legislative Council.“I thank the chief minister, the Prime Minister, our leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, and everyone else. With combined efforts, we have achieved a big majority due to the blessings of the people. I am grateful for the responsibility entrusted to me,” said Suman.Only three women took oath – former minister Leshi Singh of the JD(U) and new entrants Shreyashi Singh (BJP) and Rama Nishad (BJP), the lawmakers from Jamui and Aurai, respectively.The sole Muslim face was Zama Khan of the JD(U), the lawmaker from Chainpur who was the minority welfare minister in the previous cabinet.In the council of ministers, there are eight ministers from upper castes: four Rajputs, two Bhumihars and one each from Brahmin and Kayasth communities.Among the Other Backward Classes, three berths have gone to Kushwaha and two each to Kurmi, Vaishya and Yadav. Ministers from Extremely Backward Classes got three berths, including two to Nishads. Five berths have gone to Dalits. Over all, in the 27-member cabinet, there are 13 ministers, including the CM, from the OBC and EBC communities.Fifteen ministers have been repeated. These include all six senior ministers of the previous Nitish Kumar cabinet. The ministers repeated included both deputy CMs, former water resources minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, former energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, former rural development minister Shrawan Kumar, former education minister Sunil Kumar, former food and consumer protection minister Lesi Singh, former building construction minister Ashok Choudhary, former social welfare minister Madan Sahni, former minority affairs minister Khan, all of whom are from the JD(U), as well as former road construction minister Nitin Nabin, former health minister Mangal Pandey and former land reforms minister Dilip Jaiswal, who was later appointed the state BJP chief. HAM(S) leader Santosh Kumar Suman was also the IT minister in the previous Nitish cabinet. Narayan Prasad was a tourism minister in the Nitish cabinet in 2021-22.Ten ministers were new appointees. These included Danapur lawmaker Ramkripal Yadav, Jamui lawmaker Shreyashi Singh, Aurai lawmaker Rama Nishad, Ara lawmaker Sanjay Singh Tiger, Khajauli lawmaker Arun Shankar Prasad, Bahadurgarh lawmaker Lakhendra Prasad Roshan, Bakhri lawmaker Sanjay Kumar, Mahua lawmaker Sanjay Kumar Singh, Pramod Kumar Chandravanshi, MLC, and Deepak Prakash, who is not a member of any House. Nautan lawmaker Narayan Prasad was earlier tourism minister.International shooter Shreyashi Singh, who became an MLA only the second time, thanked the people of Jamui for electing her again and the BJP leadership for giving her the opportunity to serve as a minister.First-time MLA Rama Nishad said, “We have to deliver to take Bihar forward under the able guidance of PM and CM. I have to also work for development of my area.”