For the first time in his two decades as Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar has given up the Home department and other key portfolios to his allies in the Bharatiya Janata Party, which emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats in the State Assembly election earlier this month.
Mr. Kumar allocated portfolios to 26 Ministers on Friday (November 21, 2025), of which 46% have criminal records, while 88% are millionaires.
The caste and class factors in the NDA’s victory in Bihar
One of his two Deputy CMs, BJP leader Samrat Choudhary, has been given the Home department, a portfolio that Mr. Kumar had previously handled personally since November 2005. Other key departments that he has given up to BJP Ministers include Health, Agriculture, Revenue and Land Reforms, Mines, Industry, Road Construction, Urban Development, and Backward and Extremely Backward Class Welfare. The party has 14 members in the Cabinet.
The eight Ministers from Mr. Kumar’s own party, the Janata Dal (United), were allocated the Water Resources, Building Construction, Energy, Rural Development, Rural Works, and Education departments, among others. The party had won 85 seats in the Assembly election.
