Janata Dal-United MLA Ratnesh Sada, whom the party seeks to project as its Dalit face, is likely to be inducted into the Nitish Kumar cabinet on Friday, highly placed sources said in Patna on Wednesday.
Sada, who represents Sonbarsha assembly segment, is likely to be given the SC and ST welfare portfolio, earlier held by Santosh Suman who resigned on Tuesday alleging "pressure" from the JD-U to merge his Hindustani Awam Morcha with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party.
Notably, Sada, who was away in his constituency in Saharsa district, was asked to come to Patna by Kumar soon after Suman announced his resignation.
The 52-year-old leader has been maintaining a discreet silence whenever approached by journalists seeking confirmation of his induction into the cabinet.
However, he has been effusive in his praise of the CM, often breaking into sobs while stating that he owed his political standing to Kumar.
Not unsurprisingly, Sada has also been all fire and brimstone while attacking Suman and his father Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former chief minister and founder of the Hindustani Awam Morcha.
A Musahar by caste, like Manjhi, the JD-U MLA has been accusing the father-son duo of having ditched Nitish Kumar because of their "insatiable greed and vaulting ambition".
Sada has also charged Manjhi with "paying lip service to Dalits, especially Musahars despite being a minister in several governments since 1980s besides a brief tenure as the CM".
It is widely believed that by propping up Sada, who hails from the populous north Bihar, the JD-U seeks to neutralise the damage Manjhi could inflict, especially if he returned to the BJP-led NDA.
