The latest asset declarations by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his cabinet colleagues, uploaded on the last evening of 2025, have unveiled significant disparities in wealth within the state's council of ministers. The analysis reveals that the welfare minister for backward classes is the richest, while both deputy chief ministers possess greater family wealth than the chief minister himself.
Chief Minister's Modest Holdings Stand Out
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who oversees key departments like General Administration and Vigilance, continues to declare total assets below Rs 2 crore, showing minimal change from the previous year. His movable assets for 2025 stand at Rs 17.66 lakh, a modest increase of about 4% from 2024. Notably, his bank balance slightly decreased to around Rs 57,766, while the value of his livestock more than doubled to over Rs 3.5 lakh. He owns a flat in Delhi's Dwarka valued at Rs 1.48 crore and reported zero liabilities, as in previous years.
Kumar is among a small group of ministers, including Sanjay Singh Tiger, Surendra Mehta, and Sanjay Paswan, who each declared total personal assets below Rs 2 crore, with limited immovable property.
Deputy Chief Ministers and Senior Ministers Report Substantial Wealth
The declarations show that both deputy chief ministers hold assets exceeding those of the chief minister. Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary (BJP), handling the home department, declared movable assets of about Rs 1.03 crore and immovable assets, including non-agricultural land, valued at Rs 4.91 crore. His spouse owns a Patna property worth Rs 29 lakh and gold valued at Rs 20 lakh.
Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha (BJP), in charge of revenue and urban development, reported a dramatic 435% surge in his movable assets to around Rs 1 crore in 2025, primarily due to investments. His wife declared movable assets worth Rs 4.14 crore. The couple's combined non-agricultural land holdings include plots in Patna and Pune, though Sinha's personal immovable assets declined significantly to around Rs 48 lakh. The family has outstanding loans and government dues totaling approximately Rs 40 lakh.
Among senior cabinet ministers, Finance Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav reported increased bank deposits of Rs 2.45 crore. Rural Works Minister Ashok Choudhary declared family immovable assets in Patna valued at over Rs 5 crore, alongside loans of about Rs 3.5 crore. Health Minister Mangal Pandey (BJP) reported a decline in movable assets and declared no personal immovable property, though his wife holds assets worth Rs 1.42 crore.
First-Time Ministers and High-Value Declarations
The analysis brought several first-time ministers into focus for their substantial wealth. The largest family asset base in the cabinet belongs to Rama Nishad (BJP), the Minister for Backward and Extremely Backward Class Welfare. A first-time MLA from Aurai, she declared movable assets of Rs 3.75 crore, including 2 kg of gold worth Rs 2.17 crore, and immovable assets valued at Rs 3.67 crore.
Her husband, former BJP MP Ajay Nishad, declared assets worth over Rs 24 crore. Together, their combined immovable assets stand at a staggering Rs 25.8 crore, the highest among all ministerial families.
Other notable declarations include those of Panchayati Raj Minister Deepak Prakash, son of Upendra Kushwaha, with immovable assets worth Rs 4.05 crore, and IT Minister Shreyasi Singh, an Arjuna Awardee, who declared assets worth over Rs 7.5 crore under a Hindu Undivided Family.
Party-Wise Asset Distribution and Transparency Drive
The collective asset value varies significantly across political parties in the ruling alliance. Ministers from the BJP account for the highest cumulative declared asset value, exceeding Rs 70 crore in personal movable and immovable assets, excluding spouses' holdings. JD(U) ministers follow with roughly Rs 40 crore in cumulative assets. Ministers from HAM(S) and RLM together account for under Rs 10 crore.
The asset details were made public on the Cabinet Secretariat Department's website, continuing a transparency practice initiated in 2011. This annual exercise aims to promote accountability in public governance and combat corruption by mandating elected officials to disclose their financial holdings.
