During the cabinet expansion led by Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, the JD(U) gave new opportunities to 10 people who had previously been ministers. At the same time, three people have been made ministers for the first time. These new faces include Nishant Kumar, Shailesh Kumar (aka Bulu Mandal) and Shweta Gupta.
Who have previously been ministers:
1. Shravan Kumar
JD(U) legislature party leader Shravan Kumar is the MLA (MLA) representing Nalanda assembly constituency. He has won the assembly elections eight consecutive times. In the Nitish government, he has already held the responsibility of departments like Rural Development, Parliamentary Affairs and Transport. His age is 66 years.
2.Leshi Singh
Leshi Singh, who became minister from JD(U) quota, has been MLA several times from Dhamdaha assembly constituency of Purnia district. In the previous government, he served as the Minister of Food and Consumer Protection. She has held the post of minister several times during the tenure of Nitish Kumar. She was elected MLA for the first time in the year 2000 with great fanfare. He was born in 1974.
3. Damodar Raut
Damodar Raut has also previously been a minister in the Nitish Kumar government. He is the MLA representing Jhajha assembly constituency. He holds a Master’s degree (MA) in History. He is 67 years old and has been MLA more than five times.
4. Ashok Chaudhary
Ashok Chaudhary’s father, Mahavir Chaudhary, has been a minister in the Congress government. Born in the year 1968, Ashok Choudhary did Ph.D from Magadh University. Have obtained the degree. He is currently A.N. Working as a professor in the college, Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Ashok Chaudhary has been a minister in the Nitish government several times. Before joining JD(U), he also served as the state president of the Congress party.
5. Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha
Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha is the MLA from Jagdishpur assembly seat of Bhojpur district. Before this he had worked as Rural Development Minister. He has also been a member of the Legislative Council (MLC). Nitish Kumar also appointed him as the national general secretary of JD(U). Kushwaha has a lot of influence in his community and has been a very close associate of Nitish Kumar since the Samata Party era.
6. Madan Sahani
JD(U) leader Madan Sahni comes from an extremely backward class. He was born in 1971 in Kharajpur in Darbhanga district. In his early days in politics, he served as the Chairman of Darbhanga Zilla Parishad. He became a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the first time in 2015. He worked as a minister in many departments in Nitish Kumar’s government. At present, he represents Bahadurpur assembly seat of Darbhanga.
7. Ratnesh Sada
Ratnesh Sada had earlier been a minister in Nitish Kumar’s government. He has been elected MLA from Sonbarsa (Reserved) Assembly seat of Saharsa district for four consecutive times. In 2023, following the resignation of Santosh Suman (of HAM Party), Ratnesh Sada was appointed minister to fill the vacancy. He has studied till graduation.
8. Sheela Kumari
Sheela Kumari – also known as Sheela Mandal – who has been made a minister in Samrat Chaudhary’s government, had earlier been the Transport Minister in Nitish Kumar’s government. His father-in-law, Dhanik Lal Mandal, was the speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Sheela entered politics in 2020. Currently, she represents Phulparas Assembly seat of Madhubani.
9. Sunil Kumar
Retired IPS officer Sunil Kumar had earlier been a minister in Nitish Kumar’s government. He is an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He joined JD(U) in 2020. Currently, he represents Bhore (reserved) assembly seat of Gopalganj.
10. Jama Khan
Jama Khan started his political career with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). In 2020, he was elected MLA for the first time on BSP ticket. Currently, he represents Chainpur Assembly seat of Kaimur. Earlier, he had held the post of Minority Welfare Minister in Nitish Kumar’s government. It is worth noting that Jama Khan Samrat, who comes from a minority community, is the only Muslim minister in the government. His re-appointment as minister is also being seen as an attempt by Nitish Kumar to send a message to the minority community.
