Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday allocated portfolios in the new Bihar cabinet. While Kumar retained the home department, deputy chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Samrat Chaudhary has been given finance, health, and sports. Deputy chief minister Vijay Sinha, also from the BJP, will oversee the agriculture department, and road construction, among others.

The portfolio distribution comes six days after the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was sworn in under Kumar with two deputy chief ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The portfolio allocation was done in keeping with the formula adopted in 2020, but without cabinet expansion, which would be done later.

In the portfolio, Kumar has retained the key departments, including home, general administration department (GAD), vigilance, cabinet coordination and election. These departments have been with him all through since 2005 despite the change of alliance partners.

The finance ministry, which had gone to Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) for the first time since 2005, has returned to the BJP fold again.

Deputy CM Choudhary, apart from finance has also been given other key departments such as commercial taxes, health, election, urban development, housing, Panchayati Raj, industries, animal husbandry & fisheries, sports and law.

Deputy CM Sinha was given agriculture, road construction, land reforms & revenue, sugarcane, mining and geology, labour resources, art, culture & youth, minor irrigation and public health & engineering department.

The third BJP minister, Prem Kumar, has been given cooperatives, backward and extremely backward classes department, disaster management, environment, forests & climate change and tourism.

Senior JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Choudhary has returned to the education department, which he had forego to the RJD after the grand alliance government was formed in 2022. Besides, he has got water resources, parliamentary affairs, building construction, transport and information and public relations departments.

JD-U’s Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Shravan Kumar have retained their portfolio, besides the distribution of the remaining JD-U quota departments amongst them.

Hindustani Awam Morcha leader Santosh Kumar Suman was given information technology, and the SC/ST welfare departments, while the lone independent Sumit Kumar Singh has retained science, technology & technical education.

The delay in portfolio allocation was creating unease, as the budget session, rescheduled from February 12, was approaching and the final printing of the voluminous document was also on hold for want of the name of the finance minister. A notification of the portfolio allocation has been issued by the cabinet coordination department.

The Bihar cabinet at present has only eight ministers apart from the CM, while it could have up to 36. “After the expansion, the portfolios will be redistributed, but the contours of which one will remain with the BJP and which with the JD-U has been drawn. It is the same as in the 2020 NDA government. The cabinet expansion will also take place soon,” said a senior JD-U leader.

A senior BJP leader said that both the deputy CMs would go to Delhi in the evening for consultation with the party’s top brass on the cabinet expansion and the potential names.

“There was initially a plan to do portfolio allocation after cabinet expansion, but in view of the budget session, it was decided to complete one exercise for clarity. Expansion can happen any time,” he added.