Patna: The Nitish Kumar government on Saturday shunted out senior IAS officer K.K. Pathak as principal secretary-cum-mines commissioner, the decision being seen in bureaucratic and political circles as a fallout of the NDA's defeat in the recent byelections.

Pathak will remain an additional member with the board of revenue. Principal secretary, social welfare, Atul Prasad has been given additional charge of all the mines-related positions held by Pathak.

A member of Nitish's cabinet said the reasons for losing Araria and Jehanabad "included the scarcity of sand and ban on alcohol". The sand crisis, caused by the crackdown on the sand mafia launched by Pathak, has brought the construction sector to a standstill. "Prohibition led to imprisonment of around 1.22 lakh people. Formalities for the decisions were taken when Pathak was principal secretary of the departments," the minister said on condition of anonymity.