Caste and social engineering balance in Nitish cabinet 10.0

NEW DELHI: Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihars Chief Minister with a 26-member Cabinet crafted to carefully balance caste groups an exercise in social engineering that continues to shape the states governance. The lineup includes one Muslim, one Yadav, and three women, reinforcing the NDAs commitment to broad social representation. The central feature of the new Cabinet is its careful blend of senior leaders and 10 first-time ministers, making clear that caste equationsmore than overt development agendasshaped the final appointments. As one senior NDA leader put it, It was the caste-equation that basically helped us with an equal degree of trust in NiMo leadership. So, this time, the Cabinet has given due care in ensuring participation of almost all prominent castes. Among the familiar names retained were Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both influential leaders who earlier served as deputy chief ministers. The JD(U) continued with seasoned ministers Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, and Shrawan Kumar. On the BJP side, Mangal Pandey, Pramod Kumar, Surendra Prasad Mehta, and Nitin Nabin held their ground, whether for caste balance or continuity. A major new entrant was BJP state president Dileep Jaiswal. His inclusion hinted that the party would soon appoint a new state chief under its one person, one post policy. Narayan Prasad also made a notable return after losing his berth in 2022 when Nitish Kumar briefly exited the NDA. Smaller allies too retained their presence, with HAM(S) nominating Santosh Kumar Suman, son of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. The cabinets new faces showed the NDAs attempt to expand its social reach. Olympian shooter and MLA Shreyasi Singh from Jamui and Aurai MLA Rama Nishad, daughter-in-law of former Union Minister Jaynarayan Nishad, were inducted. They are both seen as part of efforts to strengthen the partys support among women and EBC Mallah voters. Deepak Prakash, son of RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, also entered despite not being a legislator, with plans to move him to the legislative council soon. And to further chip away at the Yadav vote bank, the BJP even included former Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav, elected from the Yadav-dominated Danapur seat. The challenges ahead for NDA govt Fulfilling key financial promises like providing `2 lakh to women and implementing the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana Creating employment is crucial as a big part of Bihars population still migrates to industrialised states Accelerating industrialisation is important as Bihar continues to lag far behind, making industrial growth a must to reduce unemployment Maintaining law and order is a politically sensitive issue, especially as the NDA frequently invokes the jungle raj narrative Ensuring visible progress for OBCs, Dalits and EBCs, whose support powered the NDAs mandate Managing alliance coordination on policy execution and sensitive issues like Waqf reforms Responding to Opposition pressure is not easy as the RJD and Jan Suraaj Party will continue demanding accountability on jobs, development, and other promises