11-24-2005, 11:31 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nitish drafts neat, compact cabinet </b>
Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay / New Delhi
With expectation of the populace soaring high, the composition of Nitish Kumar's cabinet had generated a great deal of interest in Bihar. But the astute politician that he is Mr Kumar deftly handled the compulsion of coalition politics and drafted a neat and compact council of ministers consisting of 16 cabinet ministers and 10 ministers of state.
Living up to his promise made during the poll campaign, Mr Kumar did not include any 'tainted' minister.
In a state where more than 40 per cent MLAs have criminal record, this is seen as a major first move by Mr Kumar in the taking Bihar politics out of the clutches of the mafia and thugs.
The swearing in ceremony was preceded by some sporadic protect by supporters of BJP MLA Navin Kishore Sinha who were demanding his inclusion in the cabinet. Mr Sinha is a four-time MLA from West Patna and a senior leader of the state unit. Angry supporters of Mr Sinha created unruly scene before the BJP office.
Sources in the BJP said that Mr Sinha might be either offered an important party post or later inducted in the cabinet. The BJP leaders were also trying to persuade the JD (U) to accept him as the Speaker of the Bihar Assembly.
Mr Kumar had said on Wednesday that he would take oath with 12 ministers, but with pressure mounting from all quarters, he agreed to accommodate more aspirants. JD(U), the senior coalition partner, had the lion's share of ten cabinet ministers and BJP six.
There will be 10 ministers of state, eight from JD(U) and two from BJP. BJP state president Sushil Kumar Modi took oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
Mr Kumar's cabinet also includes four MLAs who had defected from the LJP after the February polls and were able to retain their seats. Of them, cabinet ministers - Ramashray Prasad Singh and Narendra Singh - both from JD (U), are not members of any house of the bicameral Bihar legislature.
While Ramashray Prasad Singh was the leader of Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP legislature party in the dissolved previous state assembly and had switched over to JD(U) during its failed bid to form a Government in February, Narendra Singh was state LJP chief.
Two other LJP deserters Suchira Singh, and Anil Kumar, both JD (U) have been included as ministers of state. Suchitra Sinha, MLA from Kurtha, is the wife of former national secretary general of LJP, Nagmani, who parted ways with party President and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
The JD(U) cabinet ministers are: State JD(U) President Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Brishen Patel, Sudha Srivastava, Monazir Hasan, Ramnath Thakur, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Narendra Narain Yadav and Baidyanath Prasad Mahto.
Besides Modi, other BJP cabinet ministers are Nand Kishore Yadav, NDA Convenor in the state, Chandramohan Rai, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, Prem Kumar and Janardan Singh Sigriwal.
Besides Suchitra Sinha , Anil Kumar, the JD(U) MLAs, who were inducted as ministers of state are: Gautam Singh, Ajit Kumar, Vishwamohan Kumar, Arjun Rai, Nitish Mishra and Manzar Alam. Nitish Mishra is the son of three times Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra.
The ministers of state from BJP are Ramjidas Rishideo and Ramchandra Sahni.
<b>While drafting his council of minister, Mr Kumar has taken note of the caste reality of Bihar and regional aspirations. The EBC, who were actively wooed by both the RJD and NDA, get four berths in the council of ministers.
Among them is Ramnath Thakur, son of former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, who is virtually worshipped as the icon of backward caste movements
In a significant move, Mr Kumar has included five minister from the MY combine, three Yadavs and two Muslims.
At the same time, Mr Kumar had brought in just a single minister of his Kurmi caste, Brishen Patel, an old associate, who had left him to briefly join the RJD. Two members of the Koeries, who come from the OBC segment, and two dalits also find representation. Sushil Modi is the lone vaishya representative in the ministry.
The upper caste have also been liberally rewarded as 13 of them find place in the council of ministers . Of them four are Bhumihars, Rajputs 3, and Kaystha and Brahmin two each. </b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why media is so fixated to caste?
Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay / New Delhi
With expectation of the populace soaring high, the composition of Nitish Kumar's cabinet had generated a great deal of interest in Bihar. But the astute politician that he is Mr Kumar deftly handled the compulsion of coalition politics and drafted a neat and compact council of ministers consisting of 16 cabinet ministers and 10 ministers of state.
Living up to his promise made during the poll campaign, Mr Kumar did not include any 'tainted' minister.
In a state where more than 40 per cent MLAs have criminal record, this is seen as a major first move by Mr Kumar in the taking Bihar politics out of the clutches of the mafia and thugs.
The swearing in ceremony was preceded by some sporadic protect by supporters of BJP MLA Navin Kishore Sinha who were demanding his inclusion in the cabinet. Mr Sinha is a four-time MLA from West Patna and a senior leader of the state unit. Angry supporters of Mr Sinha created unruly scene before the BJP office.
Sources in the BJP said that Mr Sinha might be either offered an important party post or later inducted in the cabinet. The BJP leaders were also trying to persuade the JD (U) to accept him as the Speaker of the Bihar Assembly.
Mr Kumar had said on Wednesday that he would take oath with 12 ministers, but with pressure mounting from all quarters, he agreed to accommodate more aspirants. JD(U), the senior coalition partner, had the lion's share of ten cabinet ministers and BJP six.
There will be 10 ministers of state, eight from JD(U) and two from BJP. BJP state president Sushil Kumar Modi took oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
Mr Kumar's cabinet also includes four MLAs who had defected from the LJP after the February polls and were able to retain their seats. Of them, cabinet ministers - Ramashray Prasad Singh and Narendra Singh - both from JD (U), are not members of any house of the bicameral Bihar legislature.
While Ramashray Prasad Singh was the leader of Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP legislature party in the dissolved previous state assembly and had switched over to JD(U) during its failed bid to form a Government in February, Narendra Singh was state LJP chief.
Two other LJP deserters Suchira Singh, and Anil Kumar, both JD (U) have been included as ministers of state. Suchitra Sinha, MLA from Kurtha, is the wife of former national secretary general of LJP, Nagmani, who parted ways with party President and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
The JD(U) cabinet ministers are: State JD(U) President Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Brishen Patel, Sudha Srivastava, Monazir Hasan, Ramnath Thakur, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Narendra Narain Yadav and Baidyanath Prasad Mahto.
Besides Modi, other BJP cabinet ministers are Nand Kishore Yadav, NDA Convenor in the state, Chandramohan Rai, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, Prem Kumar and Janardan Singh Sigriwal.
Besides Suchitra Sinha , Anil Kumar, the JD(U) MLAs, who were inducted as ministers of state are: Gautam Singh, Ajit Kumar, Vishwamohan Kumar, Arjun Rai, Nitish Mishra and Manzar Alam. Nitish Mishra is the son of three times Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra.
The ministers of state from BJP are Ramjidas Rishideo and Ramchandra Sahni.
<b>While drafting his council of minister, Mr Kumar has taken note of the caste reality of Bihar and regional aspirations. The EBC, who were actively wooed by both the RJD and NDA, get four berths in the council of ministers.
Among them is Ramnath Thakur, son of former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, who is virtually worshipped as the icon of backward caste movements
In a significant move, Mr Kumar has included five minister from the MY combine, three Yadavs and two Muslims.
At the same time, Mr Kumar had brought in just a single minister of his Kurmi caste, Brishen Patel, an old associate, who had left him to briefly join the RJD. Two members of the Koeries, who come from the OBC segment, and two dalits also find representation. Sushil Modi is the lone vaishya representative in the ministry.
The upper caste have also been liberally rewarded as 13 of them find place in the council of ministers . Of them four are Bhumihars, Rajputs 3, and Kaystha and Brahmin two each. </b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why media is so fixated to caste?