Who Is Shreyasi Singh, Sportswoman Turned Politician With Big Role In New Bihar Cabinet

JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar has taken oath as Bihar’s Chief Minister for a record 10th time with the NDA alliance winning an overwhelming majority in the 2025 assembly elections. The BJP, however, has emerged as the party with the highest number of seats, and all eyes on the saffron party’s five new picks for the Cabinet.

While Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha are to remain deputy chief ministers, the BJP’s two picks who are women are also catching attention.

Bihar’s new council of ministers was sworn in at Patna’s Gandhi. Among those who joined the new cabinet are: Lakhendra Kumar Raushan, Shreyasi Singh, Pramod Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Deepak Prakash, Leshi Singh, and Nitin Nabin. The nine names from the BJP include Surendra Mehta, Rama Nishad, Narayan Shah, Ram Kripal, Sanjay Tiger, Mangal Pandey and Nitin Naveen. Of them, Mangal Pandey and Nitin Naveen have already served in the previous Nitish Kumar Cabinet.

Among the two women chosen by the party, there is a huge buzz around shooter-turned-politician Shreyashi Singh.

Shooter turned politician

Singh is former Union Minister Digvijay Singh’s daughter. She is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Apart from the CWG, Singh also won the gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast), silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the 2014 Asian Games as part of the Indian team. She’s also an Arjuna Awardee. A former Olympian, Singh was the first person from Bihar to take part in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 34-year-old is a second-time MLA from Jamui. She joined the BJP in 2020, and ran from from Jamui in the same year. She won that seat over RJD’s Vijay Prakash by a margin of over 41,000 votes. In 2025, she won against RJD's Mohammad Shamshad Alam.

Ally of Nitish Kumar

Singh is thought to be a close ally of Nitish Kumar, and has been vital in the BJP-NDA's strategy. Her nomination and wins are also seen as representative of the upper-caste Hindus in Bihar. The fact that she’s young and a woman also helps the party which is presenting a mix of experienced and also young leaders.