Nishant Kumar, son of former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is likely to join the Bihar government headed by Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary. This comes just three weeks after the BJP’s Samrat Chaudhary was sworn in as state president, a move necessitated by Nitish’s entry into the Rajya Sabha.
“Nishant, who has so far avoided playing any formal political or government role despite growing speculation about his future, recently expressed his desire to play a more active role in governance,” a person familiar with the developments told HT earlier.
The 45-year-old took a political adventure only in March this year and joined the Janata Dal (United) after his father filed his Rajya Sabha nomination and signaled the end of his record-breaking tenure as chief minister of Bihar.
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An awareness program titled ‘Sadbhav Yatra’ was started on May 3 to “strengthen party organization and reach out to people across communities”.
The younger JD(U) faces are also being discussed to induct the Cabinet. These legislators include Rahul Ranjan, Naveen Kumar Mandal, Chetan Anand, Komal Singh, Rituraj Kumar, Aterik Kumar, Aditya Kumar and Abhishek Anand.
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However, the names will become clear only after the swearing-in ceremony takes place on Thursday.
Some JD(U) leaders believe that Nishant may, for now, still be limited to gaining administrative experience as a minister before shifting his focus to political matters.
How did Nishant agree to join the new government?
Kumar Jr succumbed to the persuasion of senior party officials.
“Since he joined the party, it was the desire of the cadres for Nishant to join the government. He could have been appointed deputy prime minister last month, but he was hesitant. Finally, he agreed,” the agency quoted a source as saying.
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When a new government headed by BJP leader Samrat Chaudhary was formed after Kumar’s resignation, speculation was rife that the BJP’s heir apparent would be in the cabinet.
However, Nishant reportedly refused, declaring that he wanted to earn his standing as a party worker before accepting the job.
As a result, veteran JD(U) leaders Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav were appointed as ministers and appointed as deputy prime 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 chief Nitin Nabin will attend the function, which is seen as a belated celebration for the saffron party heading a government in Bihar for the first time.
Earlier, JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha said the party would like to have as many as 16 ministers in the state government, of which the maximum number could be 30, in the state which has a 243-member Assembly.
