A first in 50 years, Bihar CM hands over home portfolio

The BJP in Bihar has finally managed to get the Home Department, a portfolio the party was denied by Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar even in 2020, when the JD(U)’s strength had slumped down to 43 in the 243-member House.

A day after the government’s swearing-in ceremony, the Bihar Governor issued a notification announcing the distribution of portfolios.

Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, who headed the Finance Department in the previous regime, will now head the Home Department, while the finance portfolio has been given to the JD(U)’s Bijendra Yadav.

“This makes Samrat the mini-CM of Bihar,” said a BJP leader gleefully as Samrat will be the state’s first Home Minister in more than five decades.

Last time, it was in the regime of late CM Karpoori Thakur in the early 1970s, when late Ramanand Tiwari was made the Home Minister. Since then, the home portfolio has remained with successive CMs during the Congress regime, Lalu-Rabri regime as well as in the previous tenures of Nitish.

Before the Governor’s notification, Nitish also held a close-door meeting with Deputy CM Samrat. On Thursday, after the swearing-in ceremony, Nitish had also held talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, before the latter departed for New Delhi.

During the election campaign, when Shah visited Tarapur, Samrat’s constituency, he had urged voters to ensure Samrat’s victory, saying, “We are going to give him a big responsibility.”

With his elevation as the in-charge of the Home Department, Samrat would be responsible for maintaining the law and order situation. It would be particularly important as the NDA government has been criticised over the recent high-profile murders in the state.

“Samrat will play a crucial role in pushing infiltrators out of Bihar, an issue repeatedly raised by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah during the election campaign,” said the BJP leaders, adding that the elevation practically makes him the CM in-waiting, should Nitish relinquish the post in future.

Meanwhile, JD(U) leaders have described the development as an exchange of portfolios. “Ever since the BJP-JD(U) alliance came to power in 2005, Chief Minister CM Nitish Kumar held the Home Ministry, while the then Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi held the finance portfolio. The practice continued even after Sushil’s departure from the state politics in 2020,” said the JD(U) leaders.

Although, the development is being viewed as a shift in power structure, there were no surprises in the allocation of other portfolios.

Among other BJP leaders, Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha has been allotted the responsibility for land revenue and mines. The seasoned leader, Ram Kripal Yadav, was given the Agriculture Departent; Mangal Pandey got his old Ministries for Health and Law; and Nitin Nabin got the portfolio of Road Construction and Housing Construction. Noted shooter Shreyasi Singh will be the Minister for Information Technology and Sports; while the hyped Industry Department has been allocated to Dilip Jaiswal.

JD(U) leaders Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav have got the Water Resources Department, and the Power and Finance Ministries, respectively. Former IPS officer and JD(U) leader Sunil Kumar has retained the Education Department.

LJP (RV) MLA Sanjay Kumar has become Sugarcane Minister, while his party colleague Sanjay Kumar Singh has been allocated the Public Health Engineering Department.

Jitan Ram Manjhi’s son Santosh Kumar Suman has received the minor charge of irrigation and RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha’s son Deepak Prakash has been given the Panchayati Raj Department.

Meanwhile, LJP chief Chirag Paswan said that he did not want to be seen as selfish by demanding the post of Deputy CM.

Addressing mediapersons on Friday, Chirag thanked the PM and the CM for swearing in two of his party MLAs. He added that his party would now like to strengthen its base in other states like Punjab, UP and West Bengal.