In the dock, Bihar’s new law minister gets charge of Sheohar district

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, when asked on Thursday about Karthikey Kumar, said the “matter was being looked into”

Bihar’s new law minister Karthikey Kumar, who is in the eye of storm over a pending arrest warrant against him in an abduction case, has given charge of Sheohar district, as per a notification containing a fresh list of ministers in-charge of different districts in the state, issued on Thursday.

Bihar law minister Karthikey Kumar. (HT Photo)

The ministers are allotted districts to ensure smooth implementation of the government programmes and welfare schemes.

The new list has been necessitated by the change in government last week, in which the BJP was ousted from power when chief minister Nitish Kumar’s party JD(U) walked out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and aligned with RJD, Congress and other parties to form a new government.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, when asked on Thursday about Karthikey Kumar, said the “matter was being looked into”.

Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav brushed the allegations aside. “The Opposition had been left with just one job of accusations. The matter is in court. Let the court decide. Till that happens, there is no need for action,” he said.

Karthikey Kumar is from Yadav’s party, the RJD.

Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav has been made in-charge of Patna and Bhojpur while his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav has been made in-charge of Atwal.

JD(U) ministers have retained the districts they had been allotted in the previous government, while the districts with BJP have been given to RJD and Congress ministers.

Six ministers have been allotted two districts each.

On June 30, last, the government had deputed additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries as secretary in-charge in districts to review implementation of development and welfare schemes.