Bihar: In a significant development, RJD’s Kartik Kumar, who was given the law portfolio earlier in the month, was shifted to the sugarcane department amid the ongoing row over his alleged involvement in a criminal case.
Shamim Ahmad, also an RJD leader, replaced Kumar as the law minister, a notification issued by the state Cabinet Secretariat Department said.
Ahmad held the sugarcane portfolio before his elevation.
The opposition BJP had been demanding Kumar’s removal from the cabinet, alleging that an arrest warrant was pending against him in a 2014 kidnapping case.
The Congress and CPI-ML (Liberation), constituents of the ruling Grand Alliance, had also asked the Nitish Kumar government to reconsider the decision of inducting Kartik Kumar into the cabinet.
Bihar cabinet expansion
On August 16, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expanded his new cabinet by inducting 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.
Of the council of ministers, 11 were 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.
(With inputs from PTI)
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