7 jawans dead as bus plunges into 250-ft gorge in Pahalgam

Patna / New Delhi August 17 dmanewsdesk: On a day the new Mahagathbandhan Cabinet led by Nitish Kumar took oath in Patna, chinks were visible in the Janata Dal (United) with its Parliamentary Board chairman Upendra Kushwaha “skipping” the oath ceremony. Thirty one Ministers from the alliance partners — RJD, JD(U), Congress — took oath of office and secrecy  on Tuesday.

There are seven Yadav Ministers, five Muslims and six upper castes and five Dalits. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has kept the crucial Home Department with himself and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has taken charge of the Health Department in the first Cabinet expansion of the newly formed Mahagathbandhan Government.

Kushwaha, a former Union Minister in the Modi Government who had merged his RLSP party last year in March, chose to express his “disappointment” on not being given a responsibility in the new setup by flying to  Maharashtra with his family. Kushwaha extended his congratulatory message to the new Bihar Ministers through social media, but sources said that all was not well within the JD(U).

“Congratulations to all the new Ministers inducted under the Kumar. But be cautious as you are not only watched in Bihar but will be by the entire nation as the job is not finished just here,” Kushwaha tweeted.

At least five JD(U) MLAs didn’t attend the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan. They were reportedly unhappy over being denied cabinet berths. The MLAs are: Dr Sanjeev Kumar, Pankaj Kumar Mishra, Sudarshan Kumar, Raj Kumar Singh and Shalini Mishra.

Sources said several leaders of Kuswaha caste held a meeting in a hotel in Patna on August 12 night and later conveyed to Kumar against Kuswaha’s induction.

However, those familiar with the functioning of Kumar would vow that he is not likely to succumb to such pressure unless there is some other hidden agenda.

The JD(U) downplayed his absence and said he was outstation on an earlier scheduled programme.  Sources said the party may consider giving Kushwaha some important role for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Sources said trouble erupted in the RJD, too, after Bhai Birendra, a prominent Yadav leader, was excluded from the list of Ministers at the last minute. Tej Pratap Yadav is also not reportedly happy with his Environment Ministry. He was angling for the Health Ministry.

Nitish expanded his new Cabinet by inducting 31 new Ministers, including a huge contingent of 16 from key ally RJD, taking care to give due representation to all sections of society, including minorities. Some 11 members of the council of Ministers are from Kumar’s JD(U), two from Congress and one from ex-CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM, besides an Independent.         

RJD president Lalu Prasad’s elder son a second term MLA Tej Pratap Yadav and heavyweights Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Yadav and Mohd Afaque Alam of the Congress too took oath as Ministers.

Three of the Ministers are women – Sheela Kumari and Leshi Singh (both JDU) and Anita Devi (RJD). There are altogether seven Yadavs from the RJD, including the two sons of Lalu Prasad, besides Bijendra Yadav of the JD(U).

There are five Muslims in the Cabinet – Zama Khan (JDU), Mohd Afaque Alam (Congress) and Mohd Shamim, Mohd Israil Mansuri and Shahnawaz Alam (all RJD).

While Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and RJD Kartikeya Singh are Bhumihars, Leshi Singh (JDU), Sumit Kumar Singh (Independent) and Sudhakar Singh (RJD) are Rajputs. Sanjay Kumar Jha of JD(U) is representative of the Brahmins. Five Dalits – Ashok Choudhary (JDU), Kumar Sarvajeet and Surendra Ram (RJD), Murari Gautam (Congress) and Santosh Kumar Suman (HAM) have been included in the new Cabinet.

The RJD list is dominated by well-known “Bahubalis” like Lalit Yadav and Surendra Yadav. Meanwhile, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi said Kumar has betrayed Tejashwi by keeping Home and Finance portfolios with the JD(U).

The former Dy CM said, “What message does Kumar want to give by keeping people like Surendra Yadav, Ramanand Yadav and Lalit Yadav in the Cabinet? Kumar cleverly kept both Home and Finance portfolios with JD(U) and betrayed Tejashwi too.”

Taking to Twitter, Modi said 13 Ministers from Muslim-Yadav combination have been inducted into the Cabinet while there is no Teli, Kanyakubj, Kayasth and Kanu.

“#BiharCabinetExpansion 13 Ministers from MY combination (33%). Lalit Yadav, Surender Yadav, Ramanand Yadav, Kartik Kumar are known Bahubali. No Teli, Kanyakubj, Kayasth, Kanu. The Bjp made EBC as Dy CM,” he tweeted.

Source: The Pioneer