Bihar Cabinet expansion, 8 JD-U MLAs appointed ministers

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday inducted eight new JD-U MLAs as Ministers in his Cabinet. The Cabinet expansion comes two days after Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief opted out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government at the Centre.

There are now 33 ministers in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet, up from 25 ministers.

The newly appointed ministers are Ashok Coudhary, Shyam Rajak, Narendra Narayan Yadav, Sanjay Jha, Ramsewak Singh, Lakshmeshwar Rai Neeraj Kumar and Bima Bharti. Bima Bharti is only woman among the new ministers. 

Governor Lalji Tandon administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Ministers at a simple ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan. Five of the eight sworn-in are first-time ministers.