NEW DELHI: As Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar expanded his cabinet on Wednesday with seven BJP MLAs taking oath as ministers, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said the expansion was only a diversion tactic ahead of the election scheduled for later this year. The Congress leader said there is a battle of supremacy between the BJP and JDU and every time Nitish Kumar picks up his phone, the BJP gets apprehensive about whom he’s probably calling.
“This cabinet expansion is just a diversion tactic because in Bihar a survey happened and some hard truths came out…What work has Nitish Kumar’s government done for the welfare of backward, Dalits and tribals in Bihar? BJP and its allies run all these distraction campaigns,” Shrinate told news agency ANI.
Sanjay Saraogi, Sunil Kumar, Jibesh Mishra, Krishna Kumar Mantoo, Motilal Prasad, Vijay Kumar Mandal and Raju Kumar Singh joined the cabinet.
The expansion came as Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar recently said that the NDA should declare Nitish as the chief minister face again. BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain dismissed any rift between the JDU and the BJP in the state and said everyone agrees that Nitish Kumar is the most experienced leader and the election will be fought under his leadership.
“Whatever has been said is something that we have been saying for a long time now, that we will contest the election and form the government under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. Our senior leaders, state leadership, and central leadership have said the same. In Bihar, we will contest under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, cross 200 (seats), and form the government once again. There is no dispute over this,” Shahnawaz Hussain said.
“Opposition tries to stoke controversy where there is none…Nitish Kumar is the most experienced, and Bihar has made progress under his leadership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called him ‘Laadla Mukhyamantri’ and has a lot of affection for him. So, there is no doubt that we will contest under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and form government,” he added.
