Patna,(BiharTimes): The 28-member Nitish Kumar cabinet, which took oath on Friday (Nov 20) does not have two prominent Dalit faces Ramai Ram, who lost the election, and Shyam Rajak, who won from Phulwarisharif.
Similarly, Uday Narayan Chaudhary would no more be the Speaker as he lost the election from Imamganj to former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.
So there are relatively new Dalit faces, who have been inducted into the cabinet.
State Congress chief Ashok Chaudhary, who had served as minister in the Rabri Devi government between 2000 and 2005, is the new education minister of Bihar. His party was then supporting the RJD government.
JD(U) MLAs Maheshwar Hazari and Santosh Kumar Nirala and RJD’s Shivchandra Ram, are the other two ministers from the quota of Dalit leaders.
The political marginalization of Union food minister and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi have provided an opportunity for the emergence of a new leader from this section of the society.
Observers are of the view that Paswan and Manjhi seriously let down the Dalits as they were interested in promoting themselves as the leader of 15.72 per cent Scheduled Castes of the state.
In recent years the number of Dalit ministers in the state cabinet was never so less as now.
Ironically, there is no Mushar in the Nitish cabinet.
