Bihar cabinet expansion: BJP, JDU set caste equations right

By Manoj Pathak Patna, Feb 9 : Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal United (JDU) have set the caste equations right in Bihar, as Nitish Kumar expanded his cabinet on Tuesday after he became the Chief Minister again in November last year. Seventeen legislators were sworn in as Ministers by Governor Fagu Chauhan.
The 17 ministers include 10 from the BJP, six from the JDU and one Independent candidate who has given support to the JDU.
Both the BJP and the JDU have tried to appease the minorities by inducting Syed Shahnawaz Hussain and Jaman Khan into the cabinet, even as the BJP banked on “Kayastha” votes by including Nitin Naveen as one of the Ministers.
Interestingly, the cabinet expansion also saw the inclusion of four Ministers from the Rajput community. Both the JDU and the BJP exuded confidence after the induction of leaders from the ‘upper caste’.
While the BJP has included Neeraj Kumar Babloo and Subhash Singh, the JDU inducted Leshi Singh and Independent candidate Sumit Singh as Ministers.
Both the parties have appointed one leader each from the ‘Brahmin caste’. While the BJP has inducted Alok Ranjan Jha, the JDU has reposed faith in Sanjay Kumar Jha.