Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar likely to expand his cabinet after the five-day inaugural session of the new legislative assembly ends on Friday, according to several media reports.
After the resignation of Mewalal Chaudhary, there are now four ministers from the JD (U) party except the chief minister. Eight new ministers may take oath from the JD (U). Ten more ministers can take oath from the BJP. There are already seven BJP ministers including two deputy chief ministers.
Recently, the building construction minister Ashok Choudhary was given additional charge of the education department after the resignation of Mewalal Choudhary following protests by opposition RJD over alleged corruption charges.
Other senior ministers like deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, and Bijendra Prasad Yadav are handling five to six departments while some ministers have been allotted 2-3 departments.
“If there is a cabinet expansion, it would not be very, very surprising. Besides, it is obvious BJP will have higher share of ministers than the JD(U) because of a larger number of MLAs,” said a senior JD(U) leader who did not wish to be named as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Departments:
In the new government, JDU has 20 departments and the BJP has 21 departments. Two departments are with HAM and VIP has got one.
- Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad-6 Departments
- Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi-3 Departments
- Vijay Chaudhary-5 Departments
- Bisjendra Yadav – 4 Departments
- Ashok Chaudhary-5 Departments
- Mangal Pandey – 3 Departments
- Amendra Pratap Singh-3 Departments
- Jivesh Kumar- 3 Departments
