Manjhi adds 14 ministers, angers key JD(U) colleagues

PATNA: Fourteen new ministers, all of cabinet rank, were sworn in on Monday by governor D Y Patil in a function at the Rajbhavan here, raising the strength of Jitan Ram Manjhi's cabinet to 31. Immediately thereafter, there were rumblings of protest in the JD(U) ranks. Science and technology minister Gautam Singh resigned from the cabinet during the day, ostensibly due to personal reasons.
The new ministers, mostly first-term, are: Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', Shrawan Kumar, Ram Lakhan Ram Raman, Ramdhani Singh, Samrat Choudhary alias Rakesh Kumar, Mahachandra Prasad Singh, Jai Prakash Singh, Manoj Kumar Singh, Javed Iqbal Ansari, Bima Bharti, Ranju Gita, Baidyanath Sahni, Naushad Alam and Vinod Prasad Yadav.
This was the first expansion of Jitan Ram Manjhi cabinet after he took oath along with 17 ministers on May 20. Gautam Singh, who was also minister under Nitish Kumar, had been sworn-in on that day. CM Manjhi said Singh has resigned for personal reasons. "He has resigned on his own and there was neither any pressure on him to quit nor any charge against him," he said.
Minutes after the swearing-in, there were voices of dissent in the party against the selection of ministers. While Gajanand Shahi, MLA, expressed unhappiness that of the four Bhumihars in the cabinet now, three were from the legislative council and only one from the assembly, state JD (U) spokesman and MLC Niraj Kumar said it was unfortunate that the people who publicly spoke against the party and leader (Nitish) had been rewarded and made ministers.
Niraj sent in his resignation from the posts of party spokesman and deputy chief whip of the party in legislative council. Targeting Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', he said, "With the opportunists getting prominence in the party, it will be better his services are utilized properly." He added this would only demoralize the party cadres.
The new ministers include three turncoats who deserted RJD and joined JD (U). Raman, Choudhary and Ansari had resigned their assembly membership and JD (U) accommodated them in the legislative council through governor's nomination last week.
Of the new ministers, two each are Bhumihar, Koeri, Kurmi, Yadav and Muslim and one each are Rajput, Gangota, EBC and scheduled caste. Bima Bharti, the Rupauli MLA, is the wife of a gangster and had been in the news sometime back for being bashed up by her husband. She could not even read out her oath of office and secrecy. Ranju Gita, the MLA from Bajpatti in Sitamarhi district, originally belongs to Nalanda.
Following the cabinet expansion, the departments of most of the ministers have been changed. Lalan has got road construction department and Bijendra Prasad Yadav finance and commercial taxes, Brishen Patel is the new education minister while P K Shahi has been shifted to forest and environment.