PATNA: Bihar minister and state president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Dilip Jaiswal said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may expand his cabinet soon. Jaiswal hinted at the move after holding a closed-door meeting with JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha in Patna on Monday.Two major constituents of the ruling dispensation — BJP and JD(U) — have agreed to the cabinet expansion. “Everything has been finalised. The expansion may happen anytime. We are ready. We will fill the vacant posts of corporations and boards too,” he added. The caste equation is likely to play an important role in the induction of new faces in the cabinet. Based on performance, a few existing ministers may be dropped from the council. JD(U) state chief Kushwaha said that the leaders of the two major allies of the NDA discussed on strengthening and building coordination among the NDA partners. Jaiswal said that keeping the upcoming state assembly elections in mind, issues related to establishing better coordination among workers of NDA partners at booth level were discussed.Cabinet expansion is much awaited as several ministers are holding more than one department. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who wants assembly elections to be held much before the schedule, has asked the officials of the government department to expedite the execution of development works. On Monday, Nitish visited the Barh-Mokama region and launched several development schemes. He also took stock of ongoing road and bridge projects in the region. Later, he visited former MLA Anant Singh at Ladma under the Barh sub-division and held talks for about half an hour. The meeting between Nitish and Anant Singh has fuelled speculation that the don-turned-legislator may join JD(U) soon. Anant Singh’s wife Neelam Devi is a sitting RJD MLA from Mokama. She had voted in favour of NDA government during floor test in the assembly on February 12.
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