Bihar set for cabinet expansion on May 7; Modi, Shah to attend

The extended cabinet of the Samrat Choudhary government is slated to take oath at Gandhi Maidan, Patna, on May 7, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior NDA leaders in attendance. Preparations at the Maidan include pandals and security arrangements. Insider NDA discussions indicate a proposed seat-sharing formula: BJP and JD(U) each to have 16 berths, two to LJP-RV, and one each to HAM-S and RLM, with some slots kept vacant for future expansion. The previous Nitish cabinet had eight JD(U) ministers and 14 BJP ministers, plus two from LJP-RV and one each from HAM-S and RLM, with nine slots left vacant that were not filled. It is noted that the cabinet can have a maximum of 36 ministers, including the CM, and the prior Nitish cabinet operated with 27 members. The article also mentions that Choudhary met top BJP leaders in New Delhi for consultations and spoke with Nitish Kumar about the cabinet extension.

A party meeting was held at the BJP state unit office in Patna to discuss the modalities of the swearing-in function for the expanded cabinet. The meeting was attended by state unit chief Sanjay Saraogi and organisational general secretary Bhikhubhai Dalsania.

Samrat Choudhary took oath as Bihar's Chief Minister with two Deputy CMs—Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Bijendra Yadav, both from JD(U). The expansion of the cabinet had been kept on hold as assembly elections were in progress.