Days after the resignation of Jitan Ram Manjhi's son Santosh Suman, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will expand the Bihar Cabinet on Friday. Ratnesh Sada, Janata Dal (United) MLA from Sonbarsa and a Dalit leader, is likely to be inducted in the Cabinet in place of Suman.
The oath taking ceremony will be held at Raj Bhavan at 11 am. Apart from Sada, some leaders from Congress and RJD may take the oath as ministers.
A Cabinet expansion has been due for long after JD(U) snapped its ties with BJP to form Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government in August 2022. Presently, there are 30 ministers in the Bihar Cabinet following the resignation of Suman. Based on the total strength of the Assembly, there can be a maximum of 36 ministers.
The RJD has 16 ministers, JD(U) has 11 and Congress two in the Cabinet. There is also one independent member.
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Sada, who represents Sonbarsha assembly constituency, is likely to be given the SC and ST welfare portfolio, which was earlier held by Santosh Suman. Suman resigned on Tuesday alleging "pressure" from the JD(U) to merge Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) with the ruling party.
Sada belongs to the Musahar community. The three-time legislator from JD(U) is associated with Kabirpanthi.
The Sonbarsha MLA has accused the father-son duo of HAM of having ditched Nitish Kumar because of their "insatiable greed and vaulting ambition".
Sada has also charged Manjhi with "paying lip service to Dalits, especially Musahars despite being a minister in several governments since 1980s besides a brief tenure as the CM", PTI reported.
It is being speculated that by elevating Sada, who hails from the populous north Bihar, Nitish Kumar is looking to neutralise the damage Manjhi could inflict, especially if he returned to the BJP-led NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.