14 JD(U), 12 BJP leaders inducted in Bihar Cabinet
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Saturday expanded the Cabinet, inducting 27 new ministers which included 14 JD(U), 12 BJP and 1 LJP legislator. The oath-taking ceremony, held at Raj Bhawan in Patna, was attended by the CM along with Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. This comes after Nitish split from the Grand Alliance and aligned with the BJP-led NDA.
The two-day-old Nitish Kumar cabinet was expanded on Saturday. Kumar, who won the floor test at the one-day special assembly session on Friday, inducts 27 ministers in his team. The swearing-in took place in Raj Bhawan.Kumar was sworn in on Thursday, a day after he dumped the Grand Alliance and joined hands with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had also taken oath as deputy chief minister along with Kumar.Following the oath of 27 more ministers, 12 of the BJP, 1 of LJP and 14 of the JD(U), the strength of Nitish cabinet now reaches 29, with scope for six more.Khurshid Alam and Manju Verma were the lone Muslim and women representatives in the entire cabinet sworn in this time.Below are the live updates:6:25pm: 26 inducted into 2-day-old Nitish cabinet. BJP?s  Mangal Pandey could not take oath as he was not in Patna. Pandey, who is party?s in-charge in Himachal Pradesh was in Shimla. He is on way to Patna and likely to take oath later in day.6:15pm: JD(U)?s Kapil Dev Kamat, Dinesh Chandra Yadav and BJP?s Ramesh Rishidev take oath as ministers in Bihar government6:07pm: BJP?s Vinod Kumar Singh & Krishna Kumar Rishi and JD(U)?s Madan Sahni are inducted in Nitish?s cabinet.6:01pm: JD(U)?s Santosh Kumar Nirala, BJP?s Brij?Kishor and BJP?s Rana Randhir Singh sworn in as ministers. BJP?s 41-year-old Rana Randhir Singh is the youngest face in Nitish Kumar?s cabinet5:56pm: Khurshid Alam and Manju Verma were the lone Muslim and women representatives in the entire cabinet sworn in this time.5:49pm:  BJP?s Suresh Kumar Sharma , Vijay Kumar Sinha  and JD(U)?s Manju Verma takes oath.5:43pm: JD(U)?s Maheshwar Hazari, Shailesh Kumar, BJP?s Vinod Narayan Jha and Ramvilas Paswan?s younger brother Pashupati Paras (LJP) among those sworn into Nitish Kumar?s cabinet.5:36pm: JD(U)?s Jay Kumar Singh, Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma and BJP?s Pramod Kumar take oath as ministers.5:30pm: BJP?s Nand Kishore Yadav takes oath of office and secrecy. 5:28pm: Shrawan Kumar (JDU) and Ram Narayan Mandal (BJP) take oath as ministers in the government.Prem Kumar taking the oath.
							(ANI Photo/Twitter)
						5:22pm: Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Prem Kumar and Rajiv Ranjan Singh take oath as ministers in Bihar government.5:20pm: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar gets new cabinet, 27 members of JD(U) and BJP take oath as ministers. BJP?gets 13  ministers, JD(U) gets 14.5pm: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan arrive for the oath-taking ceremony of Bihar Cabinet ministers at Raj BhawanKumar was sworn in on Thursday, a day after he dumped the Grand Alliance and joined hands with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had also taken oath as deputy chief minister along with Kumar.