Patna, April 13: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday revamped his two-and-a-half-year-old cabinet by dropping 10 ministers and inducting 19 new faces, including 17 of cabinet rank and two ministers of state. Though a cabinet expansion was on the cards for a long time, the CM sprung a surprise by dropping a good number of ministers — apparently on the basis of their unsatisfactory performance.

Of the 19 new faces, seven are from coalition partner BJP and 12 from the JD(U). Of the ministers dropped, while eight are from JD(U), two are from the BJP. With this revamping, the strength of the cabinet reached the maximum permissible figure of 36. The previous cabinet had 27 ministers. Coalition partner BJP was given a free hand by the CM in dropping and selecting its ministers. The revamping seemed a preparatory measure for the Lok Sabha polls.

A caste balance was maintained and those dropped were replaced with members of the same caste. The two Muslim ministers — Monazir Hassan and Manzar Alam — were replaced by Shahid Ali Khan and Jamshed Ashraf, both from the JD(U).

Those dropped from the cabinet included Health Minister Chandramohan Rai, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Janardan Singh Sigrewal, both of BJP and Rural Development Minister Baidyanath Mahto of the JD(U). Rai was a surprise exclusion, considering the state Government had claimed success in the health sector. The inclusion of rebel MLAs Chhedi Paswan and Bhola Prasad Singh surprised many.