After Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar chief minister for the 10th time in a grand swearing-in ceremony at Patna's Gandhi Maidan on Thursday, all eyes are now on portfolio allocation for the ministers in JD(U) supremo's new cabinet.
The portfolios will be announced on Friday, an earlier HT report quoted a senior JD(U) leader who asked not to be named.
Along with Nitish Kumar, 26 others took oath of office on Thursday to be part of the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led cabinet of Bihar.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Samrat Choudhury and Vijay Kumar Sinha also took oath on Thursday and are expected to continue as deputy chief ministers in the new cabinet as well. The mega swearing-in ceremony which was attended by top dignitaries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda.
Inside Nitish Kumar's new cabinet
At the oath ceremony, 24 other ministers were also sworn in in batches of six. The new ministers include eight from the Janata Dal (United), 14 from the BJP, two from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and one each from the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
Nitish's new cabinet has three women ministers, including former minister Leshi Singh of the JD(U) and new entrants Shreyashi Singh (BJP) and Rama Nishad (BJP), who took oath on Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}Nitish's new cabinet has three women ministers, including former minister Leshi Singh of the JD(U) and new entrants Shreyashi Singh (BJP) and Rama Nishad (BJP), who took oath on Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}Zama Khan of the JD(U) is the sole Muslim face as the Chainpur lawmaker has been retained from Nitish' previous team.
Nine other cabinet berths will be filled later, bringing the total to the constitutionally mandated limit of 36, while the portfolios will be announced on Friday, a senior JD(U) leader told HT.
The council of ministers has eight ministers from upper castes: four Rajputs, two Bhumihars and one each from Brahmin and Kayasth communities. Among the Other Backward Classes, three berths have gone to Kushwaha and two each to Kurmi, Vaishya and Yadav.
Ministers from Extremely Backward Classes got three berths, including two to Nishads. Five berths have gone to Dalits. Over all, in the 27-member cabinet, there are 13 ministers, including the CM, from the OBC and EBC communities.