Bihar’s newly sworn-in government has found itself embroiled in controversy after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, beginning his 10th term in office, excluded one of the state’s most widely praised ministers from his new cabinet.
Nitish Mishra, a senior BJP legislator and former Industries Minister, was conspicuously absent when 26 ministers took oath alongside Kumar in Patna on Thursday , a decision that has triggered intense public criticism and raised pointed questions about political priorities in one of India’s least industrialised states.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several national leaders attended the ceremony, much of the conversation online focused on a single missing name.
Mishra, the MLA from Jhanjharpur in Madhubani district, had become known for his policy-driven approach to industry and investment ,an area where Bihar has long lagged behind. His exclusion, many argued, represents a puzzling step backwards for a state that continues to lose tens of thousands of migrant workers each year due to lack of jobs.
Mishra, part of a powerful political lineage , he is the son of former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and nephew of Union minister Lalit Narayan Mishra , does not exactly fit the stereotype of a Bihar politician.
Armed with an MBA, a postgraduate qualification in Global Political Economy from the University of Hull, and an executive leadership programme from Harvard Kennedy School, the 48-year-old minister has often been seen as a rare technocratic figure in a cabinet dominated by veterans of traditional politics.
Before entering politics, he worked in education and the social sector, including a stint at a Bihar-based economic research organisation and later at a management college in Muzaffarpur.
Between 2005 and 2015, Mishra served in several key ministerial roles ,rural development, social welfare, disaster management, and sugarcane industries , before being entrusted with the industries portfolio, where he earned a reputation for administrative clarity and reform-minded governance.
For many observers, the move fits into a broader pattern.
Mishra is not the first Industries Minister to be removed despite a favourable public reception.Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, another high-profile BJP leader who previously held the same portfolio, was also dropped after drawing investors and improving the department’s visibility.
That track record has led to uncomfortable commentary about whether Bihar’s political culture rewards loyalty over competence.
The reaction on social media was swift, and unusually sharp.
A Bihar-focused tourism account posted:
“Nitish Mishra is not in the list of ministers? What could be the reason? He did well as industry minister.”
Another commentator wrote:
“In politics, merit is optional. Nitish Mishra was one of the best ministers in the cabinet, but sadly he is removed.”
Avinaash K Jha, an entrepreneur, said the decision reflected “a disappointing move by the BJP”, arguing that the state needs leaders capable of attracting investment if it is to reverse decades of industrial stagnation.
Some criticism carried a sardonic edge. A widely shared post remarked:
“Name: Nitish Mishra. Crime: Being the most educated among illiterate people.”
The strong reaction is less about Mishra personally and more about what his exclusion symbolises.
Bihar’s economy remains among the weakest in India, with a long-standing deficit of manufacturing, low private investment, and chronic unemployment that drives mass migration to other states. In recent years, the industries portfolio was seen as one of the few avenues through which Bihar could chart a different economic future.
Mishra had repeatedly spoken about the structural unemployment that forces workers to leave the state, and called for sustained industrial expansion , themes that resonate deeply with Bihar’s younger electorate.
Nitish Kumar’s latest return to power , a political milestone even by his standards , was expected to bring stability to the NDA government in Bihar. But the controversy over the cabinet selections hints at internal political pressures and a possible balancing act between alliance dynamics, caste equations, and regional interests.
For many critics, the decision underscores a long-standing tension in Bihar’s governance: the conflict between political calculus and developmental urgency.
As the new government settles in, the omission of a minister widely regarded as competent and reformist has become an early flashpoint , and a reminder of the challenges facing a state still struggling to industrialise itself in the 21st century.
