Bihar cabinet expansion today: Here are four front runners to join Nitish govt

The Bihar cabinet will be expanded on Sunday with four new ministers set to take the oath of office.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Governor Lalji Tandon in Patna earlier in the day.

The JD(U) on Thursday decided to not be a part of Narendra Modi's new cabinet, saying it would not accept the BJP's offer of only one ministerial berth.

"They (BJP) wanted only one person from JD(U) in the cabinet, so it would have been just symbolic participation. We informed them that we do not need it (Cabinet berth)," Kumar had said.

The JD(U) chief, who later attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony, said, "It is not a big issue. We are fully in the NDA and not upset at all. We are working together. There is no confusion."

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, JD(U) won 16 seats in Bihar, while BJP bagged 17.

Despite being a part of the NDA, the party was also not part of the last central government.

The BJP, however, is sharing power in the Bihar government with its leader Sushil Kumar Modi as the Deputy Chief Minister. 

Shyam Rajak, Ashok Chaudhary among four front runners to join Nitish government

Shyam Rajak, Neeraj Singh, Ashok Chaudhary, Ram Sevak Kushwaha, Narendra Narayan Yadav, and Sanjay Jha are said to be among front runners for the ministerial berths.

Shyam Rajak used to be an RJD leader though he joined the JDU later and was even a member of Kumar's ministry earlier. Similarly, Ashok Chaudhary, former Bihar unit Congress chief, was a minister in JDU-RJD-Congress coalition government in 2015. He too joined the JDU later.

It was earlier reported that Bihar's ministry will be expanded on Sunday with four new ministers set to take the oath of office.

(With ANI inputs)