Nearly half of CM Nitish Kumar’s Bihar cabinet faces criminal cases — education, net worth and more revealed

Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for a record tenth time on Thursday during a grand ceremony at Patna's iconic Gandhi Maidan.

Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, the two deputy chief ministers, also took the oath of office and secrecy among 26 ministers in the Nitish Kumar cabinet today.

Election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysed 24 of the 26 ministers who were sworn in on Thursday. Of these, 11 (46 per cent) have declared criminal cases against them, while 9 (38 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases pending against them.

The BJP, which has 14 ministers in the 26-member Nitish Kumar cabinet, has 6 leaders who have declared serious criminal cases against them. The Janata Dal (United), which has eight ministers, other than CM Nitish Kumar, has one member with a declared serious criminal case and 2 with criminal cases.

Mangal Pandey, the BJP minister who won from Siwan, has eight serious criminal cases pending against him. Pandey is followed by Ram Nishad, the BJP leader who won from the Aurai seat, who has 5 pending serious criminal cases against him, as per a self-attested affidavit.

A serious criminal charge refers to an offence where the maximum punishment is 5 years or more, a non-bailable offence, any crime against women, or any election-related criminal charge. A criminal charge refers to any pending case against a candidate in which a court has taken cognisance.

Criminal Background

-Ministers with Criminal Cases: 11(46%) ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves.

-Ministers with Serious Criminal Cases: 9(38%) ministers have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

Educational Background Details

Ministers’ Education: 8 (33%) ministers have declared their educational qualification to be between 10th and 12th standard, while 15 (63%) ministers have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. One minister is a diploma holder.

One minister in Nitish Kumar's cabinet is a 10th pass, while 7 are 12th pass.

Financial Background

Crorepatis: Out of the 24 ministers analysed, 21 (88%) ministers are crorepatis.

Average Assets: The average assets of 24 ministers analysed is ₹5.32 crores.

Wealthiest Minister: The minister with the highest declared total assets is Rama Nishad from the Aurai constituency, with assets worth ₹31.86 Crores.

Poorest Minister: The minister with the lowest declared total assets is Sanjay Kumar from Bakhri (SC) constituency with assets worth ₹22.30 Lakhs.

Liabilities: A total of 15 (63%) ministers have declared liabilities out of which the minister with the highest liabilities is Vijay Kumar Sinha of Lakhisarai constituency with ₹82.33 lakhs of liabilities.

Ministers’ Age: A total of 5(21%) ministers have declared their age to be between 30 and 50 years, while 19(79%) ministers have declared their age to be between 51 and 80 years.

Women Ministers: Out of the all 27 Ministers, 3 (11%) Ministers are women.

The swearing-in ceremony on Thursday was attended by top NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and JP Nadda from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Other chief ministers also attended the event, including those of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu; Delhi, Rekha Gupta; Haryana, Nayab Singh Saini; Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma; and Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio.

The NDA stormed back to power in Bihar, winning 202 seats in the 243-member house, with the BJP bagging 89 seats, JD(U) 85, LJP (RV) 19, HAM (S) 5, and RLM with 4 seats.