New Delhi: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet expansion on Monday morning bears a strong imprint of Mandal-based social justice politics, even though he had to concede a majority of plum portfolios to the Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD).
Earlier this month, Kumar broke away from the Bharatiya Janata Party and decided to form a new state government with the support of the RJD – the single-largest party in the assembly – and other constituents of the opposition including the Congress and the Left parties.
On Tuesday, 31 ministers were inducted into the Bihar cabinet helmed by Kumar and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav. While the RJD got 16 berths, Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] settled with 11. The Congress got two berths and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha got one. An independent MLA who also decided to support Kumar was rewarded with a ministerial berth. The Left parties, including the biggest Communist Party of India (ML)Liberation, have decided to give outside support to the new state government “while acting as a bridge between democratic movements and the government”.
More importantly, the Kumar-Yadav duo appears to have learnt from the mistakes of the past when they led the state government between 2015-17. The government lasted only two years with both the parties trying to dominate one another, opening itself to staunch opposition from the BJP. It was criticised for increasing crime rate and poor administration, especially in important ministries like home, health and education.
The new friendly fervour between the two leaders was reflected when both addressed such criticisms in the allocation of portfolios. Given the poor record of the RJD with law and order, Kumar has kept the home ministry to himself. Social worker and educationist Chandrasekhar has been given the education ministry while Tejashwi Yadav has the health ministry. His brother Tej Pratap Yadav – who faced brickbats during his tenure as the health minister in the previous Mahagathbandhan government – has been given the environment, forests, and climate change ministry.
In his independence day speech, Kumar spoke about his government’s emphasis on employment generation – a promise that Tejashwi Yadav had made during his electoral campaign in 2020. Ever since Kumar ditched the BJP, the saffron party leaders have been raising the issue of employment and asking Kumar and Yadav to explain how it will generate 10 lakh jobs, as promised by the RJD leader. Kumar responded by saying that Yadav will focus primarily on fulfilling his promise.
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Thus, RJD has been given four ministries which require wide outreach among people and have the potential to generate jobs – health, road construction, urban development, housing and rural development.
Ever since the new cabinet was sworn in by governor Phagu Chauhan, observers felt that both Kumar and Yadav have ensured that representation of most communities in ministries while also consolidating their traditional vote base. As a result, ministers from other backward classes (OBC), extremely backward classes (EBC), minorities and Dalits figure prominently in the new cabinet.
Says Patna-based senior journalist Chandan, “RJD has accommodated upper caste leaders, which seems to be in line with its attempts to expand its M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) base. However, it has done so only after giving maximum representation to its core supporters – Yadavs and Muslims. More than 50% of the cabinet has been given to Yadavs (8), Muslims (5), and Dalits (6). With Kumar repeating most of his EBC ministers, the cabinet reflects the politics of social equations and electoral arithmetic as espoused by the RJD supremo and former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.”
Among the prominent leaders who missed a ministerial spot were JD(U) leader Upendra Khushwaha, Bhai Virendra and Akhtarul Islam Sahin of the RJD, and Congress’s state president Madan Mohan Jha. Sources said that only two ministers from the Congress were taken, as against an expected four, because of the ongoing rivalry between Jha and its legislative party leader Ajeet Sharma.
