PATNA – Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai has been rewarded with a ministerial berth in the Union cabinet for the impressive show of the party in just concluded Lok Sabha election.
Rai won from Ujiarpur Lok Sabha constituency this election for the second consecutive term. He defeated Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who had joined grand alliance ahead of parliamentary election.
Nityanand was elected to Bihar Assembly from Hajipur for four times and was also party chief whip in the state legislature from 2006 to 2010.
He had also thwarted the attempts by the RJD workers who were hell bent on stopping the Rath of Lal Krishna Advani from reaching the Mahatma Gandhi Setu and entering Patna from Hajipur in 1990.
Nityanand ‘s induction into the Union cabinet is seen as a strategic move on part of BJP to woo members of his caste, the Ahirs, ahead of 2020 Bihar Assembly election.