Sada to take oath as minister on June 16 in place of Suman

Santosh Kumar Suman, son of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, had quit the Nitish Kumar cabinet on Tuesday, alleging that he was being pressured to merge HAM-S with the JD-U.

Ratnesh Sada, a third-term MLA of the ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar, who has been picked as replacement for Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) president Santosh Kumar Suman, will take oath as a minister on June 16, a senior JD-U functionary said on Wednesday.

HAM (S) leader Santosh Kumar Suman. (HT Photo)

Suman, son of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, had quit the Nitish Kumar cabinet on Tuesday, alleging that he was being pressured to merge HAM-S with the JD-U.

Though Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, currently out of the state, is expected to arrive on Thursday, Sada received an invite from the Governor’s secretariat on Tuesday evening to take oath as a minister on June 16.

“You have been invited by the Governor to take oath of office and secrecy at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhawan on June 16,” said the letter from the Governor’s secretariat to Sada, who is currently MLA from Sonbarsa constituency in Saharsa district.

Sada, a Dalit face, was called by CM Kumar on Tuesday to apprise him of the new responsibility. He is likely to get the SC/ST welfare portfolio, which was with Suman.

Talking to reporters in Patna on Wednesday, Sada said Manjhi didn’t do anything for the Dalit community. “I see Kabir in Nitish Kumar. He has brought me, the son of a daily wage earner, to this level. I don’t have words as I get overwhelmed with emotion. Jitan Ram Manjhi has been MLA since 1980, but he has nothing to show as significant work for the Dalits. He worked only for his family,” he said.

Parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the current cabinet expansion had been necessitated due to the sudden vacancy arising after the resignation of Suman. “This expansion is restricted to one vacancy,” he said.

The cabinet expansion in Bihar has been due ever since two ministers from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Kartikey Kumar and Sudhakar Singh, quit last year, but the exercise has been on hold.

Bihar can have a maximum of 36 ministers. Currently, it has just 30, which will reach 31 with the induction of Sada.

Meanwhile, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi on Wednesday said a meeting of the HAM executive would be held on June 18 to discuss future strategy. “We have no personal differences with anyone, but we cannot let our party suffer. To resign from the cabinet was a collective decision of the party,” he said.