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Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary expanded his Council of Ministers on Thursday, with 32 ministers taking the oath of office and secrecy at a grand ceremony held at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. Governor Lt Gen (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain administered the oath to the newly inducted ministers.
The expanded council includes 15 ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 13 from the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], two from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and one each from the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).
Among the prominent inductees was Nishant Kumar, son of JD(U) leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. His induction marked his entry into the state Council of Ministers. The JD(U) was represented by 13 of the 32 leaders who took the oath at Gandhi Maidan.
The swearing-in ceremony was conducted in batches, with ministers taking their oaths in groups. Several experienced leaders as well as new faces were included in the expanded council.
Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav had already taken oath alongside Samrat Choudhary when the new government was formed and serve as deputy chief ministers. The expanded council subsequently took its total strength to 35 ministers.
The BJP, which has 89 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, received 15 positions in the latest expansion. The remaining positions were distributed among the JD(U) and its NDA allies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the swearing-in ceremony along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior NDA leaders. JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar and BJP national president Nitin Nabin were also present at the event, along with several other senior leaders and party workers.
The large gathering at Gandhi Maidan brought together leaders and workers from the NDA alliance as the new Bihar government completed its first major cabinet expansion under Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.
