Administration of Bihar is headed by the Governor of the state. The present governor of Bihar is Ram Nath Kovind.
Ram Nath Kovind is a politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was elected to Rajya Sabha from state of Uttar Pradesh during the two terms of 1994-2000 and 2000-2006. He is an advocate by profession and practices in Delhi. He is a former President of the BJP Dalit Morcha and President of the All-India Koli Samaj. He also served as national spokesperson of the party. On 8th August 2015 the President of India appointed him the Governor of Bihar.
Role of Governor in Bihar
The constitutional head of the Government of Bihar is the Governor, who is appointed by the President of India. The real executive power rests with the Chief Minister of Bihar. The present Chief Minister of Bihar is Nitish Kumar. The political party or the coalition of political parties having a majority in the Legislative Assembly forms the Government.
Head of the Bureaucracy of Bihar
The head of the bureaucracy of the State is the Chief Secretary. Under this position, is a hierarchy of officials drawn from the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, and different wings of the State Civil Services.
Judicial Head of Bihar
The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice of Bihar. The present Chief Justice of Patna High Court is Honourable The Acting Chief Justice Hemant Gupta. Bihar has a High Court which has been functioning since 1916. All the branches of the government are located in the state capital, Patna. The state is divided into nine divisions and 38 districts, for administrative purposes
Political Formation of Bihar
From the inception of political history of Bihar in independent India, this state goes into huge struggle against poverty and political anarchy. Lalu Prasad Yadav was the most popular Chief Minister of Bihar. Currently, there are two main political formations: the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which comprises Bharatiya Janata Party, Lok Janashakti Party, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Hindustani Awam Morcha. JD(U)-led coalition which includes Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Indian National Congress. There are many other political formations in independent Bihar. The Communist Party of India, Marxist (CPIM) had a strong presence in Bihar at one time, but is weakened now. The CPM and Forward Bloc have a minor presence, along with the other extreme Left.
In contrast to prior governments, which emphasized divisions of caste and religion, Nitish Kumar`s manifesto was based on economic development, curbs on crime and corruption and greater social equality for all sections of society. Simultaneously the present government of Bihar introduced Bihar Special Court Act to curb crime, violence and domestic violence. It has also legislated for a two-hour break on Fridays, including lunch, to enable Muslim employees to pray and thus cut down on post-lunch absenteeism by them. The government has prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol in the state since March 2016.
