Big game of caste equation in Bihar cabinet expansion: Political turmoil intensified from the entry of Nishant Kumar till the exit of Mangal Pandey.

Patna. The politics of Bihar once again seemed to revolve around caste equations, when the caste-based balance was clearly visible in the cabinet expansion under the leadership of Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary. According to the 243 assembly seats in Bihar, the limit of maximum 35-36 ministers is fixed, and the new cabinet was formed within this limit.

In this expansion, 16 ministers of BJP including the Chief Minister, 15 ministers of JDU, 2 ministers of LJP (Ram Vilas), one minister each from HAM and RLM have been included.

Nishant Kumar’s entry became the biggest discussion-
The biggest political news of this entire expansion was the appointment of JDU President Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar as a minister for the first time. While on one hand it is being considered as the entry of a new generation, on the other hand it is also being called a big change in the traditional politics of JDU.

Mangal Pandey out, caste equation became the reason-
The name of senior BJP leader Mangal Pandey being left out of the final list was also a matter of great discussion. It is being told that his name was removed due to caste balance in the last phase. In their place, names like Nitish Mishra and Mithilesh Tiwari got priority.

Mangal Pandey, who is currently the West Bengal BJP in-charge and has a strong hold in the organisation, was shocked by the decision.

Cabinet on the basis of caste balance-
In the new cabinet, every party has tried to solve the caste equation.

BJP minister list-
Ram Kripal Yadav (OBC), Kedar Gupta (EBC), Nitish Mishra (Brahmin), Mithilesh Tiwari (Brahmin), Rama Nishad (EBC), Vijay Kumar Sinha (Bhumihar), Dilip Jaiswal (EBC), Pramod Chandravanshi (EBC), Lakhendra Paswan (Dalit), Sanjay Tiger (Rajput), Engineer Shailendra (Bhumihar), Nand Kishore Ram (Dalit), Ramchandra Prasad (Vaishya/OBC), Arun Shankar Prasad (EBC), Shreyasi Singh (Rajput).

JDU Minister List-
Nishant Kumar (Kurmi/OBC), Shravan Kumar (Kurmi), Ashok Chaudhary (Dalit), Lacey Singh (Rajput), Madan Sahani (EBC), Sunil Kumar (Dalit), Jama Khan (Minority), Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha (OBC), Sheela Mandal (EBC), Damodar Raut (EBC), Bulo Mandal (EBC), Ratnesh Sada (Dalit), Shweta Gupta (Bania).

Other parties-
Sanjay Paswan and Sanjay Singh from LJP (Ram Vilas), Santosh Manjhi from HAM, and Deepak Prakash from RLM have become ministers.

Clear message of caste politics-
Caste balance has always been decisive in Bihar politics, and this time too its clear impact was visible in the cabinet expansion. When the names of many senior leaders were dropped, many new faces got a chance, due to which the political equations have completely changed.

This expansion is not just a reorganization of power but is being considered as another new chapter in the caste politics of Bihar.