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Nishant Kumar, son of JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, to join Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary's cabinet
Nishant's political plunge happened only after Nitish Kumar made his way to the Rajya Sabha in March this year.
Nishant Kumar, son of former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, is likely to join the Bihar cabinet under chief minister Samrat Chaudhary. This comes just three weeks after BJP's Samrat Chaudhary took oath as the CM of the state, a move necessitated by Nitish's entry into the Rajya Sabha.
“Nishant, who had so far avoided taking any formal political or governmental role despite growing speculation over his future, recently conveyed his willingness to play a more active role in governance,” a person privy to the development told HT earlier.
The 45-year-old took political plunge only in March this year and joined the Janata Dal (United) after his father filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha and signalled the end of his record-breaking tenure as Bihar chief minister.
He started an outreach programme under 'Sadbhav Yatra' on May 3 ‘to strengthen the party organisation and connect with people across communities.’
Other younger JD(U) faces are also being discussed for cabinet induction. These include legislators Rahul Ranjan, Navin Kumar Mandal, Chetan Anand, Komal Singh, Rituraj Kumar, Atirek Kumar, Aditya Kumar and Abhishek Anand.
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However, the names would only become clear once the swearing-in ceremony takes place on Thursday.
Some JD(U) leaders believe Nishant may still confine himself, for now, with gaining administrative experience as a minister before turning his focus to political matters.
How Nishant agreed to join the new govt
Kumar junior gave in to persuasions by senior functionaries of the party.
"Ever since he had joined the party, it has been the wish of cadres that Nishant join the government. He could have been appointed as a deputy chief minister last month, but he was hesitant. Finally, he has agreed," PTI quoted a source as saying.
When a new government headed by BJP leader Samrat Choudhary was installed following Kumar's resignation, speculations were rife that the JD(U) supremo's heir apparent would be in the council of ministers.
However, Nishant reportedly declined, declaring that he wanted to earn his spurs as a party worker before accepting a post.
Consequently, veteran JD(U) leaders Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav got inducted as ministers and were designated as deputy CMs.
JD(U) sources also claimed that around a dozen party leaders were likely to take oath as ministers on Thursday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president Nitin Nabin will attend the function, which is being seen as a belated celebration of the saffron party heading a government in Bihar for the first time.
Earlier, JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha had said that the party would like to have up to 16 ministers in the state cabinet, which can have a maximum strength of 30, in the state with a 243-member assembly.
