NDA expands Bihar cabinet; top leaders join Samrat Choudhary-led government
New Delhi: The NDA government in Bihar on Thursday expanded its cabinet with several leaders from the BJP, Janata Dal (United) and allied parties inducted into the Samrat Choudhary-led government at an oath-taking ceremony held at Gandhi Maidan.
Among those sworn in as ministers were former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar, Shrawon Kumar, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, Leshi Singh, Ram Kripal Yadav, Nitish Mishra, Damodar Rawat, Sanjay Singh (Tiger) and Ashok Choudhary, along with others from NDA constituents.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary were present at the ceremony.
The cabinet expansion comes months after the NDA secured a sweeping mandate in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, winning 202 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, followed by JD(U) with 85. Alliance partners LJP (Ram Vilas), HAM(S) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha also registered gains.
The opposition Mahagathbandhan was reduced to 35 seats, with the RJD winning 25, Congress six, CPI(ML)(L) two, while smaller parties shared the remaining seats.
On November 20, 2025, Nitish Kumar took oath as Chief Minister for a record 10th time. On March 30, 2026, he resigned from the Bihar Legislative Council (MLC) and moved to the Rajya Sabha as part of a wider political realignment.
Subsequently, Samrat Choudhary was sworn in as the first-ever BJP Chief Minister of Bihar.
JD(U) veterans Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers.
(DD News)
