Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. This is his first visit to Delhi since becoming Chief Minister, and is formally being described as a courtesy call.
However, this meeting is considered politically significant, and speculation is rife about a possible cabinet expansion in Bihar. Samrat Chaudhary may also meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Currently, only the Chief Minister and two Deputy Chief Ministers have been sworn in. Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Chaudhary from the Janata Dal (United) have been appointed Deputy CMs, while no MLA from the BJP quota has been appointed as a minister. Consequently, the entire cabinet is virtually vacant, which could impact administrative work.
Bihar has a provision for a total of 33 ministers, but not a single full cabinet has been formed yet. Consequently, the biggest challenge facing the new government is to expand the cabinet as quickly as possible and speed up administration. Political experts believe that after these meetings in Delhi, the process of cabinet expansion may accelerate and the governance system in the state will be strengthened. It is noteworthy that a special session of the Bihar Assembly has been called on April 24, in which Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary will present a vote of confidence motion in the House and will try to prove the majority of his government. There is an NDA government in Bihar, but for the first time, a BJP Chief Minister and two JDU Deputy Chief Ministers have been elected. Earlier in the NDA government, Nitish Kumar was handling the responsibility of the post of Chief Minister, while the Deputy Chief Ministers were elected from the BJP quota.