Bihar cabinet expansion: Who are 7 new ministers in Nitish Kumar's cabinet and why BJP picked them

NEW DELHI: The Bihar government on Wednesday inducted 7 MLAs from the Bharatiya Janata party into chief minister Nitish Kumar-led cabinet. The state cabinet will now function at its maximum strength (36) permissible in the state with a 243-strong assembly.
Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administered the oaths of the newly inducted ministers.

Who are the 7 new faces?

Jibesh Kumar is a member of the assembly from Jale constituency, he was minister till August 2022, when CM Nitish Kumar jumped ship accusing the BJP of trying to "break" JDU. Jibesh was minister of labour resources department.

Another inductee, Sunil Kumar is MLA from Bihar Sharif, in the CM's pocket borough Nalanda, for as many times, thrice on a JDU ticket before crossing over to the BJP in 2015.
Sanjay Saraogi also took oath as minister. He is a fifth-term MLA from Darbhanga.
Another BJP MLA who took oath was Raju Kumar Singh. He is MLA from Sahebganj in Muzaffarpur. Singh won the seat in 2020 on a ticket of Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP), floated by former Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni.
The VIP had won altogether three seats but all the MLAs joined BJP two years ago after Sahni burnt his bridges with the saffron party, losing his cabinet berth in the bargain.
Krishna Kumar Mantu also took oath as a minister. He represents Amnour Saran district. He recently organised 'Kurmi Chetna Rally' in Patna, with a view to reaching out to the powerful OBC community to which the JDU supremo belongs.
The remaining two inductees were Vijay Kumar Mandal, who represents Sikti in Araria district and Moti Lal Prasad, the MLA from Riga in Sitamarhi.

BJP mulls over combinations ahead of upcoming assembly elections

The expansion highlights a careful calculation of the BJP's support that occurred a day after the party's national president chaired a meeting of the "core group" in Patna.
Two of the new ministers, Jibesh Kumar (Bhumihar) and Raju Kumar Singh (Rajput), belong to the upper castes, which constitute just over 10 percent of Bihar's population.
Despite their relatively small demographic, these castes have consistently been among the BJP's most loyal voters for decades.
Additionally, with the exception of Sunil Kumar, all hail from the region north of the Ganges, where the NDA has been performing better than the rival RJD, Congress and Left combine.
Earlier, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal announced his resignation from his ministerial post as revenue minister citing the party's "One Person, One Post" policy.
"I am going to resign from the post of revenue minister. 'One person, one post' is the principle on which the party works. I am thankful that the central leadership has given me the responsibility of the party's state unit," Jaiswal said.
(With agency inputs)