JD(U) legislator Bima Bharti goes after Leshi Singh, inducted in Cabinet by CM Nitish Kumar for the third time

New Delhi: Bihar's new Cabinet has been hit by controversy within a week of being sworn in.

Bima Bharti who belongs to Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) took a dig at her party colleague and five-time MLA Leshi Singh who was inducted as the Minister of Food and consumer protection in the Bihar government.

Bharti is apparently miffed at not being included in the Cabinet after Singh was on Tuesday in the Cabinet expansion inducted for the third time as minister.

"I'm upset with only JDU MLA Leshi Singh that she's always chosen in the Cabinet. What does the CM see in her? She is repeatedly involved in incidents in her area; brings disrepute against the party. Why are we not heard? Is it because we're from a backward caste?," said JDU MLA Bima Bharti.

WATCH what JD(U) MLA Bima Bharti said about minister Leshi Singh

Bihar | I'm upset with only JDU MLA Leshi Singh that she's always chosen in cabinet. What does the CM see in her? She is repeatedly involved in incidents in her area; disreputes the party. Why are we not listened to? Is it because we're from a backward caste?: JDU MLA Bima Bharti pic.twitter.com/LLy0Vj737F

— Subodh Kumar (@kumarsubodh_) August 17, 2022

"If she is not removed from the post of minister, I will resign from the party. If my allegation against her is wrong then I will resign as an MLA," Bharti said.

Interestingly, Bharti's husband Awadhesh Mandal has criminal cases against him. In 2016, he escaped from a police station after being detained for allegedly threatening a witness in a murder case.

Leshi Singh had on Tuesday thanked Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for offering her ministerial berth and stated that Mahagathbandhan Government will do well.

"I thank the Chief Minister for giving me a berth in his cabinet and making a worker like me, a minister. I also thank the people who have brought me here. Mahagathbandhan Government will work well, the pace of development will increase and work will be firmly done," Leshi Singh told ANI.

"There will be no difference (between party's alliance with RJD and that with BJP) as the leader (Kumar) is the same. Work will be done well. Nitish Kumar will take Bihar to new heights," she said. Singh, a fifth-term MLA from the Dhamdaha seat, has been given charge of the food and consumer protection ministry.

Bharti can go somewhere else if she wants: CM Nitish Kumar

"We will talk to her (Bima Bharti) and try to convince her not to give such statements about the party. If she does not understand and wants to go anywhere else, she can think about it," CM Nitish Kumar said.

We will talk to her (Bima Bharti) and try to convince her not to give such statements about the party. If she does not understand and wants to go anywhere else, she can think about it: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on JDU MLA Bima Bharti's statement https://t.co/DIereyQPgA pic.twitter.com/rdvfTpYb8U — ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2022

"Everyone cannot be given a post in the cabinet. We have already given her (Leshi Singh) a post in 2013, 2014 & 2019. I'm shocked that she (Bima Bharti) has given such a statement. We will talk about this. It is absolutely wrong," Kumar added.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Power and Renewable Energy RK Singh on Wednesday attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the induction of Kartikeya Singh in his cabinet and said the RJD legislator has been made law minister though he faces an arrest warrant in a kidnapping case.

He said the Chief Minister should apologise to people over the induction. He alleged there's "Jungle Raj Part-2 in Bihar".

"We are also from Bihar and we are ashamed. Jungle raj part-2 is back in Bihar. Should Law Minister be an absconder and that too in the case of kidnapping? How has Kartikeya Singh been made law minister who is the right hand of Anant Singh, who is a don?," said RK Singh.

New Bihar Cabinet

31 ministers were sworn into the Bihar cabinet on Tuesday. Out of which 16 were from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), 11 were from Nitish's Janta Dal-United (JD-U), two were from Congress and one was from Hindustani Awam Morch (HAM) and one was an Independent lawmaker.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has kept the crucial Home Department portfolio with himself and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has taken charge of the Health Department's portfolio in the first Cabinet expansion of the newly formed Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar.

JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary got the Finance Department and RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav was given charge of Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

From RJD, Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav's brother Tej Pratap Yadav, Samir Kumar Mahaseth, Chandrashekhar, Kumar Sarvajeet, Lalit Yadav, Surendra Prasad Yadav, Ramanand Yadav, Jitendra Kumar Rai, Anita Devi and Sudhakar Singh and Alok Mehta took the oath.

Congress legislators Afaque Alam and Murari Lal Gautam were inducted into the cabinet as ministers, while Hindustani Awam Morcha's Santosh Suman was also sworn in.

The Bihar cabinet can have up to 36 ministers, including the Chief Minister. Some ministerial berths will be kept vacant for future cabinet expansion, sources said.

Nitish Kumar had broken away from the BJP and formed a government with the RJD and other parties earlier this month. The Chief Minister and his deputy - RJD's Tejashwi Yadav - took oath on 10 August.

With inputs from ANI

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