Nitish to announce portfolios today

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to allocate portfolios to his 26-member council of ministers on Friday.

Janata Dal (United) sources said Nitish has already finalised the portfolios and would announce it after first cabinet meeting on Friday.

Nitish took over as the 33rd chief minister of Bihar on Thursday along with 15 cabinet ministers and 10 ministers of state.

However, a cabinet rank minister Jiten Ram Manjhi resigned late Thursday night for his involvement in a teachers training institutions scam in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, the new chief minister will visit his native Kalyanbigha village, about 50 km from Patna, to meet his mother to seek blessings and then return to hold his first cabinet meeting. The portfolios will be announced thereafter.

Nitish is likely to keep the Home ministry with himself and give Finance and Parliamentary Affairs ministry to his deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader.

It has been learnt that while BJP was putting pressure on Nitish to give them the Human Resource, Health, Urban and Rural development ministries, JD(U) leaders were eyeing important departments like road construction, energy, water resources, irrigation and planning.

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