Bihar cabinet | Continuity in a changed form

In the days after the BJP wrested Bihar, there was one point of curiosity: would it lean more towards continuity or change? The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent well over a month in deliberation before deciding on Samrat Choudhary as the man to replace Nitish Kumar. That spoke of a preference for retaining coherence, an integrity of nature and structure, between the outgoing disposition and the new one. That signalling is not only intact but gets stronger now with a new cabinet, with a certain Nishant Kumar in the mix.

The visual field, at the May 7 cabinet expansion, may have been dominated by the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah et al. But all eyes were on the composition of personnel in Samrat’s cabinet. The new facts were soon revealed. Of the BJP’s 16 ministers, including the CM, five are EBCs, three OBCs, two Dalits, and only six from non-reserved categories. That is, rather than disrupt the model followed by Nitish, the BJP was doing a Nitish on Nitish, so to speak.

The driving logic is clear: EBCs constitute over a third of Bihar’s population. The BJP is seeking to move into that vast backwards spectrum, hitherto occupied by the ‘Janata parivar’, broadening its social base—with Samrat, a Koeri or Kushwaha, as the face. Even if it has to happen at the expense of its ally, the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U).

NISHANT’S BIG TEST

For JD(U), this is the first time in over two decades that Nitish is not at an active force in government, receding to the role of a margdarshak. Seeking to fill that gap is his son Nishant, now inducted as health minister. If Nitish’s political estate can be transferred, even partially, via lineage, the party may retain its relevance in a rapidly shifting landscape. Easier said than done, though. Nishant commands a measure of goodwill, but not authority. He begins entirely without the long history of political immersion Nitish had when he rose to the top. What he has instead is expectation—more of a burden.

The portfolio sharpens the stakes. Health is not a department that permits leisurely acclimatisation. Governance has to be encountered directly, with all its practical complexities, entailing an oversight of public hospitals, medicine availability, public health management, primary care. These often form the everyday interface between citizen and state. In short, an unforgiving arena for apprenticeship. Nishant being able to pull off the job with a degree of measurable success, and public endorsement, will be critical if the JD(U) wishes to retain its identity amidst pressure, in a shifting political terrain. The situation also puts into sharp relief the absence of a viable second line of leadership in the JD(U)—a situation where they had to make a choice out of a compulsion.

That sub-plot unfolds within Samrat’s own political project, as he sets about activating his own governance profile. He has kept Home, General Administration, Cabinet Secretariat and Vigilance, so that firm rhetoric on law and order now has space for play.