Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday expanded his new cabinet by inducting 31 new ministers of which Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) got lion's share.
Nearly 11 members of the council of ministers are from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), two from Congress, and one from ex-CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM, besides an Independent.
The swearing-in took place at Raj Bhavan, where Governor Phagu Chauhan administered the oath of office to the inductees in batches of five and six. Notably, both Kumar and Deputy CM Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, who had been sworn in earlier on August 10 were present on the occasion.
After the cabinet expansion, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar asserted that the departments will be divided soon, adding, ''I will once again hold a full cabinet meeting today.''
Tej Pratap has once again got a place in Nitish's cabinet as he has been made a minister.
Former Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary was the first to take the oath of office. However, along with him, five MLAs Vijender Yadav (JDU), Alok Mehta (RJD), Tej Pratap Yadav (RJD), Afak Alam (Congress) also took oath as ministers.
Interestingly, the new cabinet has a sizeable number of Yadavs and Muslims, though members of other sections of the society also find a place.
On August 10, 2022, a day after announcing a new grand alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and other opposition parties after breaking away from the BJP, Nitish Kumar took oath as the Bihar Chief Minister for the eighth time. Along with him, Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD leader, took the oath of deputy CM.
Tejashwi Yadav, after taking the oath, touched the feet of CM Nitish Kumar and took his blessings. Nitish Kumar also greeted Tehashwi Yadav warmly.
Before going to the Raj Bhawan, Nitish Kumar spoke to RJD Chief Lalu Prasad over the phone.
"After the 2020 Assembly election, I did not want to become the chief minister of Bihar. Our party faced a loss after going with the BJP. The situation went worse in the last two months," after taking the oath, CM Nitish Kumar had said.
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