Within 24 hours of the resignation of HAM leader Santosh Suman as minister in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet, the Bihar CM chose a new face in the party to replace him. Now, the ruling party is left with six instead of seven members in the grand alliance.

JDU MLA from Sonbarsha (Saharsa district) Ratnesh Sada will take oath as the new minister in the state cabinet on Friday morning. He is likely to be given a Minority Welfare portfolio.

According to a Rajbhavan notification issued on June 13, minister designate Ratnesh Sada will take oath at Darbaar hall in Rajbhavan on June 16 at 10.30 am.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar will administer oath of the office to Ratnesh Sada at Rajbhavan on June 16. According to the notification, only one minister will take the oath.

Sada has contested and won elections on JDU ticket from Sonbarsha (reserved) assembly seat for the last 11 years. Ancestral village of Sada is Kandaha village in Mahishi block in the Saharsa district.

According to JDU sources, Sada has already reached Patna from his constituency and met the CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday evening. Sources also said that since the governor is currently not in Patna the swearing-in ceremony will be held on Friday.

Though Sada is very popular in his constituency, he is little known in the political circle of Patna. Nevertheless he is considered a committed JDU worker who comes from a very humble background.

“I am the son of a daily-wage worker. I consider Nitish ji as my mentor and guardian,” he said in an emotionally surcharged voice.

Meanwhile, Speculations are rife in political circles about Manjhi and his team switching over to the NDA fold. Only last month he had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.

Santosh Suman, Manjhi’s son, while talking to reporters here, said that he would be going to various parts of the state to assess the ground realities. “We have already made intensive visits to places like Gaya, Munger, Darbhanga and Purnia. At least, we will be covering 15 constituencies before the elections, he added, but did not make any commitment about joining any party now.

Commenting on his exit from the party, Deputy Chief Minister Tejshwi Prasad Yadav told reporters: “We always respected Manjhi ji and his party. We made his son (read Santosh Suman) as MLC from our own quota. No one can even say that we have not given them respect. We have always honoured them in a big way.”

Speaking to reporters, former JDU president RCP Singh said, “If JDU fails to merge into RJD before 2024, it will not be getting any seat in the Lok Sabha poll.”

He further said, “Nitish Babu is in the habit of merging parties from 2020. Both LJP and BSP lone MLAs merged in JDU.”

Taking a dig at the CM, he asked, “What kind of seven-party alliance is working in Bihar when one of his partners had to leave the alliance.”