JD(U) president Nitish Kumar took oath as the Bihar chief minister for the seventh time in two decades on Monday at a ceremony which was attended by top NDA leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda.
Kumar's new deputies—BJP's four-time MLAs Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi—were among the 14 ministers who were sworn in at the low-key function held in Raj Bhavan where Governor Phagu Chauhan administered the oath of office and secrecy.
The BJP, which emerged way too stronger than its regional ally by bagging 74 seats in the assembly elections, walked away with seven berths in the council of ministers with party leaders Mangal Pandey, Amarendra Pratap Singh, Ramprit Paswan, Jivesh Mishra and Ram Surat Rai also taking oath on Monday.
The five JD(U) leaders who were sworn in included Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Vijendra Prasad Yadav, Ashok Choudhary and Mewa Lal Choudhary.
Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi and Mukesh Sahni of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) also took oath as cabinet ministers.
“Congratulations to Nitish Kumar Ji on taking oath as Bihar’s CM. I also congratulate all those who took oath as ministers in the Bihar government,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, saying that the NDA family will work together for the progress of Bihar. “I assure all possible support from the Centre for the welfare of Bihar,” he said.
The BJP is expected to keep for itself the post of the Speaker of the assembly which has remained with the chief minister's party in the last decade and a half. Party sources told PTI that its MLA Nand Kishore Yadav is likely to become the new Speaker.
The NDA won 125 seats in the 243-member assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office but with diminished clout following a debilitating slide in the number of JD(U) lawmakers that came down to 43 from 71 in 2015.
The 14 ministers sworn in on Monday reflect the "social engineering" that has been the cornerstone of the saffron party-led alliance's strategy for expansion in the Hindi heartland. While four of them belong to the upper castes, the traditional support base of the BJP, three are Dalits and the remaining from the often disorganised but numerically powerful sections of the other backward classes (OBC) and extremely backward classes (EBC).
The RJD, which emerged as the single-largest party by bagging 75 seats, boycotted the swearing-in, saying the mandate for change was against the NDA.
Kumar, who heads the JD(U), took over as the chief minister, a day after he staked claim for the formation of a new government in the state, armed with unanimous support of all legislators of the NDA despite his party's plummeted tally.
Nitish Kumar takes oath as the chief minister of Bihar at Raj Bhavan in Patna | PTI
It is the fourth straight term of Nitish Kumar as the state's chief minister. The 69-year-old, who has had a continuous run since November, 2005, except for the period in 2014-15 when Jitan Ram Manjhi kept the chair warm for him, is on course to becoming the longest serving chief minister of the state, surpassing the record of Shrikrishna Singh who held the top post since before Independence till his death in 1961.
Kumar was first sworn in as CM in 2000, for a term that lasted barely a week as he failed to muster a majority and returned as a minister at the Centre in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Five years later, he returned with the JD(U)-BJP alliance winning a majority and upon completion of his tenure returned in 2010 when the coalition won a landslide victory in the assembly polls.
He stepped down in May, 2014, owning moral responsibility for the JD(U)s debacle in Lok Sabha polls, only to return in February, 2015 when a rebellious Manjhi was elbowed out.
In November, 2015, the assembly polls were fought and won by the Grand Alliance which then comprised JD(U), Lalu Prasads RJD and Congress with Kumar back as the Chief Minister.
He, however, abruptly exited the alliance in July, 2017, citing irreconcilable differences with the RJD and resigned as Chief Minister only to return in less than 24 hours armed with the support of the BJP.
With inputs from PTI
