PATNA: Nishant Kumar, son of JD(U) patriarch Nitish Kumar, is tipped to join the Bihar government in Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary's first cabinet expansion on Thursday, barely eight weeks after his entry into politics as the reluctant heir to his father's decades-long legacy.
News of Nishant transitioning from a political rookie to a minister-in-waiting came in the wake of JD(U)'s insistence on parity with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the expanded cabinet. State JD(U) president Umesh Singh Kushwaha laid claim on Wednesday to 16 berths for his party, double the number of ministers from his party in the previous Nitish-led government. The BJP had 14 ministers in that government, which was formed after the National Democratic Alliance's landslide victory in the 2025 assembly elections.
Sources said Nishant, who has been on a 'sadbhav yatra' across the state since his father quit as chief minister and moved to the Rajya Sabha on March 8, agreed to assume the ministerial role after a meeting at Nitish's residence on Wednesday between Union minister Rajeev Ranjan Singh and JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha. They convinced Nishant that joining the ministry would strengthen the party and provide him with governance experience, sources added.
Besides Nishant, two new faces from JD(U) are scheduled to take oath: Shailesh Kumar and B S Kushwaha. Eight JD(U) ministers from the previous government will also be sworn in, taking the party's strength to 11 ministers in the cabinet.
