Tejashwi Yadav criticises choice of Cabinet Ministers in Bihar, takes jibe at Nitish Kumar

On Wednesday, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of compromising in his choice of Cabinet Ministers for the sake of power. For instance, he alleged that the newly appointed state Education Minister Mewalal Choudhary was embroiled in several corruption cases. This assumes significance as Kumar had cited corruption charges against Tejashwi Yadav as the reason for snapping ties with RJD, leading to the collapse of the Mahagatbandhan government in Bihar.

In the backdrop of no Muslim candidate of the ruling alliance getting elected to the Legislative Assembly, the RJD leader pointed out that the minority communities had no representation in the state Cabinet. According to him, state-backed criminals have a free run in the new NDA regime. In a veiled dig at the JD(U) president, Yadav predicted that Kumar shall continue to give "lectures" on crime, corruption and communalism. 

Read: 57 Per Cent Bihar Ministers Have Declared Criminal Cases Against Them: ADR

Nitish Kumar's Cabinet

Apart from Nitish Kumar who was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the 7th time, 14 other Ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy on Monday. This includes 4-time BJP MLAs Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi who shall serve as the Deputy Chief Ministers of the state. While Kumar has retained the Home department, Prasad has been assigned the portfolios such as Finance, Commercial Taxes, IT, Disaster Management and Urban Development. On the other hand, Renu Devi will handle Panchayati Raj, Backward and Extremely Backward Class Welfare and Industry departments.

The Minority Affairs portfolio has been assigned to Bihar JD(U) president Ashok Choudhary. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, BJP MLC Mangal Pandey has been retained as the Health Minister. Meanwhile, HAM(S)'s Santosh Kumar Suman will function as the Minister for Minor Irrigation and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Welfare and VIP chief Mukesh Sahani shall be in-charge of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries portfolios. 

Read: People Thought EC Was Being 'fool-hardy' By Holding Bihar Polls, But We Lived Up To Challenge: CEC Sunil Arora

Bihar Assembly election

The 2020 Bihar Assembly election witnessed a voter turnout of 57.05% as against that of 56.66% in the 2015 polls. The polls turned out to be a nail-biting contest with NDA emerging victorious in 125 seats as against that of 110 seats won by the Mahagatbandhan. BJP, RJD, JD(U), Congress won 74, 75, 43, and 19 seats respectively. With 4 seats each, VIP and HAM (S) had a crucial role to play in the ruling alliance breaching the majority mark. Similarly, AIMIM made a huge mark in Bihar politics as 5 of its candidates were declared winners. 

Read: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Boosts JDU Cadre's Morale Post Party's Diminished Performance