Patna: A day before Bihar cabinet undergoes a major expansion, speculations are rife that former chief minister and JD (U) president Nitish Kumar`s son, Nishant Kumar, will be inducted into the cabinet.
Meanwhile, Bihar JD(U) president Umesh Kushwaha on Wednesday said the party expected 16 berths in the state cabinet."We have made it clear that we want 16," he remarked while addressing a press conference.
On April 15, Samrat Choudhary was sworn-in as chief minister along with Vijay Kumar Chaudhar and Bijendra Prasad Yadav as deputy chief ministers.
The cabinet expansion will take place amid the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president Nitin Nabin at the historic Gandhi Maidan on Thursday.
On Wednesday, JD (U) working president Sanjay Jha and deputy CM Chaudhary met Nitish Kumar to finalise the names of JD (U) leaders for the cabinet expansion. They also discussed the potential induction of Nishant into the cabinet.
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After Nitish moved to Rajya Sabha and stepped down as chief minister of the state, there was speculation that Nishant may be escalated to the post of deputy chief minister. Several party leaders even attempted to persuade him to accept the role but he firmly declined. Sources claimed that Nishant maintained that he did not wish to accept a high-ranking position without first winning an election as he wanted to gain first-hand experience by working directly among the people. He had decided that he would first contest an election to become an MLA before taking any major responsibilities, sources added.
To this end, Nishant intended to work at the grassroots level and remain amongst the people for approximately six months. Sources said that senior JD (U) leaders—including Sanjay Jha, union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh aka Lalan Singh, and deputy CM Chaudhary—ultimately succeeded in persuading Nishant to join the cabinet. Nishant has recently launched his 'Sadbhav Yatra' from Champaran and also addressed people. Nishant had officially joined the JD (U) on March 8.
