Who gets what: Nitish Kumar announces portfolios for 18 ministers
What's the story
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has assigned the Home Ministry to his deputy, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Samrat Choudhary. The announcement comes as part of the portfolio distribution for the new cabinet. Notably, this was a contentious issue in pre-swearing-in talks between National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies, with Janata Dal (United) unwilling to give up control of the Home Ministry, per India Today.
Portfolio distribution
Other key portfolios announced in Bihar cabinet
Besides Choudhary, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha has been given charge of the Land and Revenue Department along with Mines and Geology. Mangal Pandey will head the Health and Law Departments. Dilip Jaiswal has been made Industry Minister. Nitin Nabin gets Road Construction, Urban Development and Housing portfolios while Ramkripal Yadav is Agriculture Minister.
Ministerial roles
New ministers assigned various departments in Bihar
Sanjay Tiger will look after Labour Resources, Arun Shankar Prasad will handle Tourism, Art, Culture and Youth Affairs. Surendra Mehta has been given the Animal and Fisheries Resources portfolio, while Narayan Prasad will manage Disaster Management. Rama Nishad is in charge of the Backward and Extremely Backward Class Welfare Department, while Lakhedar Paswan handles Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Welfare. Shreyasi Singh gets the Information Technology and Sports portfolios.