Twenty-two out of Twenty-nine newly sworn in ministers in Bihar are facing criminal cases, higher than what it was in the previous grand alliance Cabinet, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) stated. While 19 out of 28 ministers in the grand alliance Cabinet were facing criminal charges. The report was prepared by the Bihar Election Watch and ADR after an analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of the 29 ministers including the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The report further stated, out of the 22 ministers who have declared to have criminal cases, nine of them are facing serious criminal charges. Whereas nine ministers have declared their educational qualification to be between class 8 and 12 pass, 18 are graduates or have higher degrees.
Also, there is only one woman minister in the new Cabinet compared to two in the last one, the report stated. However, the number of crorepatis in the new Nitish Kumar-led cabinet has come down marginally to 21 from 22 in the previous one. The average assets of 29 ministers are Rs 2.46 crore, the report said.
On July 26, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had resigned as the Chief Minister of Bihar, ending the two-year-old alliance with the Lalu Prasad-led RJD, but hours later joined hands with the BJP to reclaim the government. Kumar was again sworn in as the chief minister the next day with BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi as his deputy.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Sushil Modi on Tuesday said that he will expose RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav within a period of next three days. The Deputy Chief Minister who also holds the new Forest Minister has led many crackdowns in cases of illegal sand mining, something Lalu Yadav is allegedly involved in too.
Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of Ministers in Bihar click here