NDA finalizes Bihar cabinet plan, dividing ministerial posts.
Bihar’s 243-seat Assembly allows a maximum of 36 ministers, including the chief minister, under current constitutional provisions.
The process of forming the new government in Bihar gathered momentum on Sunday as leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) began detailed discussions on how ministerial berths should be shared among alliance partners. With the election results now settled and the coalition firmly in control, senior leaders are working to create a formula that keeps every party satisfied and maintains stability within the alliance.
Sources familiar with the talks said that the NDA is considering a formula that would allocate roughly one minister for every six MLAs. The idea is to ensure fair representation for each partner in the government while keeping the cabinet within the constitutional limit. The alliance includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) or HAM(S), and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJP(RV).
Under the formula being discussed, one ministerial berth each is expected to be allotted to the RLM and HAM(S), while the LJP(RV) could get three berths. The remaining 30–31 cabinet positions would then be divided between the BJP and JD(U), the two largest constituents of the alliance. However, senior leaders say there could be room for negotiation, including potential changes to the positions of the two deputy chief ministers.
A senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity, noted, “We are broadly working with the one-minister-per-six-MLA approach, but final adjustments will be made after discussions with all partners. Even the deputy chief minister posts could see some reshuffling if needed.”
As per constitutional provisions, the size of the state cabinet cannot exceed 15% of the total strength of the assembly. For Bihar’s 243-member assembly, this ceiling allows a maximum of 36 ministers, including the chief minister. The NDA, which registered a sweeping victory in the recent elections by securing 202 seats, is comfortably placed to fill the cabinet while keeping each party accommodated.
In the seat tally, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 89 seats, followed closely by the JD(U) with 85. The LJP(RV) secured 19 seats, HAM(S) won 5, and the RLM bagged 4. Given this distribution, the BJP and JD(U) are expected to take the lion’s share of ministerial positions, as they did in the previous government.
The outgoing cabinet had a full strength of 36 ministers—21 from the BJP and 13 from the JD(U). Besides them, one minister belonged to HAM(S) and another was an Independent. The government also featured two deputy chief ministers, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both from the BJP, and both of whom won their seats comfortably in the November 14 elections.
As discussions continue, alliance leaders are confident that the final cabinet formation will reflect both electoral strength and coalition harmony, paving the way for a stable new government in Bihar.