Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar allocated portfolios to his cabinet colleagues on Saturday, underscoring his leadership despite the Janata Dal United (JDU) having just 45 seats compared to 78 seats of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The cabinet secretariat department formally notified the departmental allocations following the recent expansion of the council of ministers.

Nitish has retained key administrative domains, including the general administration, cabinet secretariat, vigilance, election departments, and all unallocated sectors alongside the home department, which encompasses policing.

Notably, the coveted education department, a long-standing desire of the BJP since the inception of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar in 2005, has been entrusted to JDU minister Sunil Kumar, reflecting Nitish’s emphasis on preserving the integrity and impartiality of educational institutions.

Vijay Kumar Choudhary, a trusted aide of Nitish, has assumed responsibilities for the water resources and parliamentary affairs departments, while Bijendra Prasad Yadav has been assigned the energy and planning and development departments. Additionally, minister Ashok Choudhary has been tasked with overseeing the
rural works department.

The ministerial contingent, numbering 30, including the chief minister, consists of 15 BJP members, 13 from the JDU, with former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS) contributing one minister. Independent representative Sumit Kumar Singh also holds a cabinet position.

BJP ministers have secured significant portfolios within the government structure. Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary has been entrusted with the finance and commercial taxes departments, while deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha will oversee road construction, mines and geology, art, culture and youth affairs. Senior BJP figure Mangal Pandey, who also serves as the party’s Bengal in-charge, has been allocated the health and agriculture departments, with Prem Kumar entrusted with cooperative and environment portfolios, and Niraj Kumar Singh taking charge of the public health engineering department.

Further, Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Jitan Ram Manjhi and a leader of HAMS, has been allocated the information technology, minor water resources and disaster management departments, following Manjhi’s advocacy for broader portfolio distribution amongst the Mahadalit community, questioning the concentration of roles limited to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes welfare departments.