5 JD(U) MLAs skip Bihar cabinet expansion ceremony

India

oi-Deepika S

Patna, Aug 16: At least five Janata Dal (United) MLAs, who were reportedly unhappy over missing out on ministerial berths in the new Nitish Kumar government skipped the Cabinet expansion ceremony held at Raj Bhavan.

Parbatta MLA Dr Sanjeev Kumar, Runnisaidpur Pankaj Kumar Mishra, Barbigha MLA Sudarshan Kumar and Matihani MLA Rajkumar Singh and Kesaria MLA Shalini Mishra skipped the ceremony held at Raj Bhavan, according to India Today.

Nitish Kumar inducted 31 new ministers, including a huge contingent of 16 from key ally RJD, taking care to give due representation to all sections of society, including minorities.

Some 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.

RJD president Lalu Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav enjoyed a pride of place, as the second-term MLA took oath in the first batch, alongside party veteran Alok Mehta, JD(U) heavyweights Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Yadav and Mohd Afaque Alam of the Congress.

The new cabinet, predictably, has a sizeable number of Yadavs and Muslims, though members of other sections of the society also find a place.

Three of the ministers are women – Sheela Kumari and Leshi Singh (both JDU) and Anita Devi (RJD).

There are altogether seven Yadavs from RJD, including the two sons of Lalu Prasad, besides Bijendra Yadav of the JD(U).

Others from the populous caste group in Bihar include Lalit Yadav, Surendra Prasad, Chandrashekhar, Ramanand Yadav and Jitendra Kumar Rai.

There are five Muslims – Zama Khan (JDU), Mohd Afaque Alam (Congress) and Mohd Shamim, Mohd Israil Mansuri and Shahnawaz Alam (all RJD).

Comparatively, the last Nitish Kumar cabinet in alliance with BJP, had as Muslim representation Senior BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain besides Zama Khan.

The sizeable number of Muslims and Yadavs, apparently, led BJP national spokesman Sanjay Mayukh to allege “this is not a cabinet headed by Nitish Kumar. It bears the imprint of Tejashwi Yadav. We will expose the inherent contradictions of this opportunistic alliance”.

Although a pro-OBC bias was expected in the alliance dominated by RJD and JD(U), both owing their rise to the Mandal agitation, members of the upper castes also find a place.

While Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and RJD debutant Kartikeya Singh are Bhumihars, Leshi Singh (JDU), Sumit Kumar Singh (Independent) and Sudhakar Singh (RJD) are Rajputs. Sanjay Kumar Jha of JD(U) is representative of the Brahmins.

Five Dalits – Ashok Choudhary (JDU), Kumar Sarvajeet and Surendra Ram (RJD), Murari Gautam (Congress) and Santosh Kumar Suman (HAM) have been included in the new cabinet.

Others who took oath include the CM’s close aide Shravan Kumar, who belongs to the same Kurmi caste and Nalanda district, Madan Sahni and Jayant Raj.