Bihar Cabinet expansion: Nearly 30 MLAs to take oath as minister today, 16 ministers from RJD, 11 from JD(U)

All eyes are on the cabinet expansion scheduled on Tuesday, August 16, at 11:30 am, after Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav teamed up to create a new government in Bihar. On August 9, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Nitish Kumar's party united to form the Janata Dal (United), breaking the party's links with the BJP.

Nitish Kumar, who was sworn in as chief minister of Bihar for a record eighth time on August 10 in a low-key ceremony at Raj Bhavan, is expected to keep the crucial Home portfolio, while the RJD may end up with the majority of the ministries that the BJP formerly controlled.

The RJD, which is the party with the most representatives in the Bihar Assembly, is expected to receive 16 cabinet seats, while the JD(U) is expected to keep 11. Congress, which is a member of the Grand Alliance, is anticipated to get two cabinet vacancies, while Jitan Ram Manjhi Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) is likely to receive one. Today, 31 MLAs, including one independent, are anticipated to take the oath of office as ministers.

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Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Vijay Chaudhary, Shrawan Kumar, Ashok Chaudhary, Madan Sahni, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Jama Khan, Sumit Kumar Singh, and Leshi Singh are a few of the JD(U) candidates that are on the list of potential ministers.

Tej Pratap Yadav, Surendra Yadav, Shashi Bhushan Singh, Bhudev Chaudhary, Anita Devi, Kumar Sarvjeet, Alok Mehta, Shahnawaz Alam, Sudhakar Singh, and Samir Mahaseth are just a handful of the RJD ministerial candidates that are considered likely candidates.

Shakeel Ahmad and Rajesh Kumar are the front-runners from the Congress for the ministerial positions. The eldest son of former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Santosh Suman Manjhi from HAM, is also anticipated to join the government on Tuesday.

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Kumar will continue to oversee the Home Department, which helps him maintain control over the police, and is expected to continue overseeing the departments responsible for the care of the most underprivileged minorities and castes, who make up his main support base.

In the Bihar Assembly, which has a total effective strength of 242, the RJD holds 79 seats, followed by the BJP with 77, JD(U) with 45, Congress with 19, CPI(ML) with 12, CPI and HAM(S) with 4 apiece, and AIMIM with one and an Independent. The great coalition of the JDU, RJD, HAM, Congress, CPI(ML), and CPI has a total strength of 163. The effective strength of the party now stands at 164 thanks to the backing of the lone Independent MLA.

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• BJP
• Bihar
• Bihar Cabinet expansion
• Congress
• JD(U)
• RJD
• Tejashwi Yadav
• Nitish Kumar