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Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Thursday carried out the first expansion of his council of ministers, inducting 32 new ministers into the state cabinet 22 days after the formation of the government.

Syed Ata Hasnain administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers during a large ceremony held at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. The swearing-in ceremony was conducted in batches of five ministers each.

The event, organised outside the Raj Bhavan complex on a large scale, was attended by several senior leaders of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) president Nitin Nabin.

Political focus on family representation

The cabinet expansion drew attention after several relatives of prominent NDA leaders were inducted into the ministry.

We let BJP have CM's post to reciprocate its past support to us: JD(U)

Among those sworn in was Nishant Kumar, son of former Bihar chief minister and former JD(U) (Janata Dal United) president Nitish Kumar. Deepak Prakash, son of RLM (Rashtriya Lok Morcha) chief Upendra Kushwaha, and Santosh Suman, son of Union minister and HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, were also included in the council of ministers.

The inductions triggered discussion in political circles over the growing role of political families within the ruling alliance.

BJP, JD(U) retain balance in cabinet

From the BJP quota, leaders including Vijay Kumar Sinha, Ram Kripal Yadav, Nitish Mishra, Dilip Jaiswal, Shreyasi Singh and Mithilesh Tiwari were inducted.

However, former Union minister Mangal Pandey did not find a place in the expanded cabinet.

From the JD(U) quota, apart from Nishant Kumar, leaders including Shravan Kumar, Ashok Choudhary, Madan Sahni, Lesi Singh and Jama Khan were sworn in.

Senior JD(U) leaders Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Yadav were already part of the ministry.

The expansion retained most ministers from the previous Nitish Kumar-led government while also introducing several new faces, reflecting an attempt to balance caste, regional and alliance considerations ahead of future political contests in the state.