The chief minister, who likely to expand his cabinet post Dussehra, would focus on maintaining what he calls “social balance,” sources close to Nitish Kumar said on Thursday.

Bihar at present has 28 ministers, including the chief minister and deputy chief minister, and can have 36 members in the cabinet.

Though Nitish may not fill all eight vacancies, he could induct around four to five ministers with a focus on the Dalits and backward castes, the sources said.

“Whatever number of ministers Nitish chooses to induct, one would be definitely from the Kushwaha caste from which Manju (Verma, who resigned as social welfare minister after her husband’s name cropped up in the Muzaffarpur shelter home rapes case) hailed. The rest could be from the Scheduled Castes, whom Nitish is trying to woo with several welfare schemes,” a JDU leader said.

Sources said JDU general secretary Shyam Rajak and former education minister Ashok Choudhary, who switched over his loyalties from the Congress to the JDU after being removed from the post of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president last year, are hot contenders for ministerial berths. Both leaders have been very active over the last few months. Shyam toured various districts as part of a pre-poll campaign, and Ashok recently organised a daylong convention of Dalit entrepreneurs.

Ashok Choudhary Telegraph picture

One minister could also be from the forward castes, the sources said, and the person could be from the BJP — which has been at the receiving end of upper caste anger in Bihar in recent times. BJP sources said the party could get a second deputy chief minister in an effort to appease the upper castes, especially the Bhumihars who are particularly angry with the BJP for not supporting their demand for reservation to the poor among them.

However, the entire JDU top brass was silent over whether poll strategist-turned-party national vice-president Prashant Kishor would be among the new ministers.

“Only Nitish knows about the role he has decided for him (Kishor) and whether he would be inducted as a cabinet minister or not,” a senior JDU leader said.

A senior state minister said on Thursday that the cabinet expansion “has been long due, and I think discussions about it have already started at the top level in our party”.

Another JDU minister said new ministers were needed to ensure the “development with justice” motto of the party.

“So much development work is going on in the state, but we are short of ministers,” he said. “We can actually have eight more ministers in our cabinet and they are needed to take care of developmental works. Even the vacancy that arose after the resignation of Kumari Manju Verma has not been filled.”