Bihar: Congress eyes five berths in Nitish cabinet

NEW DELHI: The race for ministerial berths is heating up in Congress as the party prepares to join the Bihar government after a gap of 10 years.

The Congress legislature group with 27 MLAs is scheduled to meet Rahul Gandhi a day before Nitish Kumar takes oath in Patna on Friday. The party is likely to get five slots amid speculation it can get an extra berth.

Given the spurt in its tally, Congress faces the challenge of satisfying the burgeoning aspirations in its ranks. However, a party manager said since a majority of MLAs were first-timers, their expectations were low.

Congress has returned a diverse mix of castes and communities. It is felt the party would give special focus to upper castes in the hope of weaning them away from BJP. The saffron outfit has been the magnet for “forwards” but the defeat may change the picture.

A former minister and Rajput Awadhesh Singh has returned to the assembly while Vinay Verma is the only Kayastha member from the party. He is seen as a strong contender since he hails from Shikarpur clan which continues to dominate politics in pockets of West Champaran. Kayasthas have over the years drifted towards BJP and two other community MLAs are in the saffron camp.

Two women, a Bhumihar and a Brahmin, have been successful and are vying for the gender quota.

Veteran OBCs Sadanand Singh and Ramdev Rai have won too. Rai, a Yadav, is known to have defeated Karpoori Thakur in Lok Sabha polls.

Well-placed Dalits in Ashok Ram, a former minister and CWC member, is in the race while state unit chief Ashok Chaudhary, an MLC, is another aspirant along with Anil Kumar, a veteran.

Sources said Dr Javed, a former minister from Seemanchal, is a serious contender for the minority slot in the ministry while AICC secretary Shakeel Khan is lobbying hard.

An AICC leader said the balance would be struck easily, with the cabinet posts going to veterans and minister of state slots to the first-timers.