Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took oath for a historic tenth term today, marking yet another chapter in his long political career. The swearing-in ceremony featured a mixture of seasoned politicians, new faces, and dynastic entries, signalling the NDA’s strategic approach ahead of governance challenges in the state.
In today’s episode of DNA, Rahul Sinha, Managing Editor of Zee News, conducted a detailed analysis of Nitish Kumar’s newly sworn-in cabinet following his historic tenth oath as the state’s head. Alongside Nitish Kumar, 26 ministers took oath today. While Bihar allows for a total of 36 ministers, only 27 have been sworn in, leaving nine positions vacant for future induction. The cabinet represents all five parties of the NDA coalition, including BJP, JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).
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BJP holds the largest share with 14 ministers, while JD(U) has nine, including Nitish Kumar himself. LJP has two ministers, whereas HAM and RLM have one minister each. The cabinet features ten new ministers: seven from BJP, both LJP ministers, and one from RLM. JD(U), in contrast, retained all its previous ministers without inducting any new faces.
Dynastic politics has also made an entry into the cabinet. Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Jitan Ram Manjhi, continues as a minister, while Deepak Prakash, son of Upendra Kushwaha, has been inducted despite not being a member of the legislature. He is required to become a member of either the Assembly or Legislative Council within six months, with the possibility of being appointed MLC under the NDA quota.
Women’s representation in the cabinet remains low at around 10 per cent, with only three women ministers: Lacy Singh from JD(U), Ramaa Nishad from BJP, and Shreysi Singh from BJP, who is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and the youngest minister in the cabinet. Among the ministers, BJP’s Ramaa Nishad is the wealthiest, with assets of approximately ₹32 crore, while Vijay Sinha and Samrat Chaudhary are also crorepatis. The least wealthy minister is LJP’s Sanjay Paswan, with assets worth only ₹22 lakh. Nitish Kumar himself has declared assets of ₹1.64 crore, with ₹60,811 in his bank account and a single vehicle.
Nine ministers have ongoing criminal cases, with BJP’s Nitin Naveen facing the highest number, totalling five cases. Caste balance was a key factor in cabinet formation. The composition includes five Dalits, four Rajputs, three Kushwaha, three Vaishya, two Yadav, two Kurmi, two Nishad, and two Bhumihar ministers, while Brahmin, Kayastha, Chandravanshi, and Muslim communities have one minister each. By broader classification, the cabinet comprises ten OBC ministers, eight upper caste, five Dalits, three EBC, and one Muslim minister.
Interestingly, there are three ministers named Sanjay in the cabinet — one from BJP and two from LJP — which may occasionally lead to confusion. Rahul Sinha emphasised that the cabinet reflects a careful balancing act between experience, new entrants, dynastic considerations, gender, wealth, criminal cases, and caste dynamics, highlighting the complexity of governance in Bihar.
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