Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant likely to join Bihar cabinet on May 7

Nishant Kumar, son of former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, is likely to join the Bihar cabinet during Thursday’s expansion. JD(U) sources said he agreed after persuasion from party leaders, while several other alliance leaders are also expected to take oath

Patna: Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar has agreed to join the Samrat Choudhary government in Bihar, and he is likely to be sworn in during the cabinet expansion on Thursday, according to a source close to both the former chief minister and his son.

The 45-year-old leader, who joined the Janata Dal (United) less than a couple of months ago, gave in to persuasion by senior functionaries of the party.

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“Ever since he joined the party, it has been the wish of cadres that Nishant join the government. He could have been appointed deputy chief minister last month, but he was hesitant. Finally, he has agreed,” the source told PTI on Wednesday.

The entry of Nishant Kumar, an engineering graduate, into politics took place soon after his father decided to step down as chief minister after becoming a Rajya Sabha member.

When a new government headed by BJP leader Samrat Choudhary was formed following Kumar’s resignation, speculation was rife that the JD(U) supremo’s heir apparent would be included in the council of ministers.

However, Nishant reportedly declined, saying 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 were inducted as ministers and designated as deputy chief ministers.

JD(U) sources also claimed that around a dozen party leaders are likely to take oath as ministers on Thursday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president Nitin Nabin 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.

Prominent among those likely to be inducted from the JD(U) quota are Ashok Choudhary, Shrawan Kumar, and Leshi Singh, all of whom were ministers in the Nitish Kumar government formed after the Assembly polls held in November last year.

Besides JD(U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the cabinet may include representatives from Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Hindustani Awam Morcha, headed by Union ministers Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi respectively, besides Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha.