Nitish Kumar-led Cabinet expansion today: 31 Ministers set to be sworn in; probables here

A week after Mahagatbandhan returned to power in Bihar, more Ministers will be inducted into the Nitish Kumar-led Council of Ministers at 11.30 am on Tuesday. They will be administered the oath of office and secrecy by Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan at the Raj Bhavan. As per sources, RJD is likely to get a lion's share in the new state Cabinet. A total of 31 Ministers might be sworn in which includes 16 members of RJD, 11 from JDU, 2 from Congress, one HAM(S) legislator and the lone Independent. 

Sources revealed that all 11 JDU Ministers including Ashok Choudhary, Sanjay Jha and Sunil Kumar who were a part of the erstwhile NDA government will retain their position. On the other hand, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav's brother Tej Pratap Yadav is set to find a place in the Cabinet again. Shahnawaz Alam who was one of the 4 AIMIM legislators who jumped ship to RJD in June, can also get a Ministerial berth. Meanwhile, only two Congressmen may be inducted into the Cabinet today even as the Sonia Gandhi-led party has been seeking 4-5 Cabinet berths.

HAM(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi's MLC son Santosh Suman and the lone Independent MLA Sumit Singh can also make the cut. At present, the government has the support of 164 MLAs including 79 RJD MLAs, 45 JDU MLAs, 19 Congress MLAs, 16 legislators of Left parties, 4 HAM(S) MLAs and one Independent. As the size of the Council of Ministers cannot exceed 15% of the total number of seats in the Assembly, only 34 more Ministers can be sworn in. 

Here is the list of Ministerial probables:

JDU:

1. Vijay Choudhary- Sarairanjan MLA and former Education & Parliamentary Affairs Minister
2. Bijendra Yadav- Supaul MLA & former Energy, Planning and Development Minister
3. Ashok Choudhary- MLC & former Building Construction Minister
4. Sheela Mandal- Phulparas MLA & former Transport Minister
5. Shrawan Kumar- Nalanda MLA & former Rural Development Minister
6. Sanjay Jha- MLC and ex-Minister for Information & Public Relations
7. Leshi Singh- Dhamdhaha MLA & Minister for Food and Consumer Protection
8. Mohd. Zama Khan- Chainpur MLA & former Minority Affairs Minister
9. Jayant Raj Kushwaha- Amarpur MLA & ex-Minister for Rural Works
10. Madan Sahni- Bahadurpur MLA & former Social Welfare Minister
11. Sunil Kumar- Bhore MLA and Former Minister for Prohibition, Excise & Registration

RJD:

1. Tej Pratap Yadav- Hasanpur MLA & former Health Minister
2. Alok Mehta- Ujiarpur MLA
3. Anita Devi- Nokha MLA
4. Surendra Yadav- Belaganj MLA and former Excise Minister
5. Chandra Shekhar- Madhepura MLA
6. Lalit Yadav- Darbhanga Rural MLA
7. Jitendra Rai- Marhaura MLA
8. Ramanand Yadav- Fatuha MLA
9. Sudhakar Singh- Ramgarh MLA
10. Sarvjeet Kumar- Bodh Gaya MLA
11. Surendra Ram- Garkha MLA
12. Shamim Ahmad- Narkatiya MLA
13. Shahnawaz Alam- Jokihat MLA; jumped ship from AIMIM in June 2022
14. Mohammad Israil Mansuri- Kanti MLA
15. Kartik Singh- MLC
16. Samir Mahaseth- Madhubani MLA

Congress: 

1. Md. Afaque Alam- Kasba MLA
2. Murari Gautam- Chenari MLA

HAM(S):

1. Santosh Suman- MLC

Independent:

1. Sumit Singh- Chakai MLA and former Science & Technology Minister

Change of guard in Bihar

Five years after returning to the NDA fold, Nitish Kumar took another U-turn on August 9 and joined hands with RJD, Congress, and the Left once again. He submitted his resignation to Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan and staked claim to form a new government with the support of 164 MLAs. Thus, only BJP and the lone AIMIM MLA constitute the opposition space in Bihar now. Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were sworn in as the CM and Deputy CM respectively in the Raj Bhavan on August 10. This is Kumar's 8th term as the Chief Minister.