The annual ritual of transparency in Bihar politics has once again laid bare the financial portfolios of the state's power holders. Asset details for the year 2025, uploaded by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his cabinet colleagues on the Cabinet Secretariat Department's website on December 31, 2025, reveal a cabinet with significant disparities in declared wealth. The analysis shows that the state's deputy chief ministers and several ministers possess multi-crore family assets, while the Chief Minister himself continues to declare a relatively modest net worth.
Chief Minister's Modest Portfolio
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who oversees crucial departments like General Administration and Vigilance, declared total movable assets worth Rs 17.66 lakh for 2025. This marks a minor increase of about Rs 68,455 from the previous year. His bank balances saw a slight dip to approximately Rs 57,766. In a notable detail, the valuation of his livestock more than doubled from Rs 1.45 lakh to over Rs 3.5 lakh. The CM also owns a charkha and a treadmill.
His only immovable property remains a flat in Delhi's Dwarka, valued at Rs 1.48 crore. With no reported liabilities, Nitish Kumar's total declared assets stay below the Rs 2 crore mark, a consistent feature of his disclosures over the years. He is among a small group of ministers, including Sanjay Singh Tiger, Surendra Mehta, and Sanjay Paswan, with sub-2 crore asset declarations.
Deputy CMs and Senior Ministers Report Substantial Wealth
The declarations of the two Deputy Chief Ministers present a stark contrast. Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary (BJP), who holds the Home portfolio, reported movable assets of about Rs 1.03 crore. His assets include a Bolero vehicle, firearms, and gold. His immovable assets, comprising non-agricultural land, are valued at Rs 4.91 crore. His spouse owns a Patna property worth Rs 29 lakh and gold valued at Rs 20 lakh.
The other Deputy CM, Vijay Kumar Sinha (BJP), reported a dramatic surge in his movable assets. They jumped to around Rs 1 crore in 2025 from Rs 18.74 lakh in 2024—an increase of 435%, primarily driven by investments. His wife declared movable assets worth Rs 4.14 crore. The couple's immovable assets include land in Patna and Pune, though Sinha's own declared immovable property value saw a significant decrease. The family also reported outstanding loans and government dues.
Among senior cabinet members, Finance Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav reported increased bank deposits of Rs 2.45 crore. Rural Works Minister Ashok Choudhary's family holds immovable assets in Patna valued collectively at over Rs 5 crore, alongside substantial loans. Industries Minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal's combined family assets are worth over Rs 9 crore.
First-Time Ministers and the Cabinet's Wealthiest
The most striking revelation comes from the cohort of first-time ministers. The title of the wealthiest minister in the cabinet goes to Rama Nishad (BJP), the Minister for Backward and Extremely Backward Class (EBC) Welfare. A first-time MLA from Aurai, she declared movable assets worth Rs 3.75 crore, which includes a staggering 2 kg of gold valued at Rs 2.17 crore. Her immovable assets are pegged at Rs 3.67 crore.
Her wealth is part of an even larger family fortune. She is married to former BJP MP Ajay Nishad, who declared immovable assets worth Rs 22.13 crore. Together, the family's combined immovable assets stand at a colossal Rs 25.8 crore, the highest among all ministerial families.
Other notable declarations from first-time ministers include Panchayati Raj Minister Deepak Prakash, with immovable assets worth Rs 4.05 crore, and IT & Sports Minister Shreyasi Singh, who declared Rs 6.09 crore in immovable assets held under a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF).
Political Party-Wise Asset Breakdown
The 2025 declarations paint a clear picture of asset distribution across political lines. BJP ministers collectively account for the highest cumulative declared asset value, exceeding Rs 70 crore in self-declared movable and immovable assets (excluding spouses' assets). Ministers from Nitish Kumar's JD(U) follow, with cumulative assets of roughly Rs 40 crore. The assets of ministers from smaller alliance partners like HAM(S) and RLM together account for under Rs 10 crore.
These disclosures, a practice started in 2011, continue to serve as a public ledger for the financial standing of Bihar's elected executives. While they promote a form of transparency, the wide spectrum of wealth—from the CM's modest flat to multi-crore land holdings—highlights the diverse economic backgrounds within the state's unified government.
