Nitish Kumar elected leader of NDA in Bihar, to take oath as CM for 10th time on Thursday

JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar was chosen leader of the NDA in Bihar during a meeting of newly elected MLAs of the alliance partners here on Wednesday, state minister Shrawon Kumar said.

Kumar will take oath as the Chief Minister for a record 10th time at Patna's historic Gandhi Maidan on Thursday.

Soon after his election as leader of the NDA in Bihar, Kumar along with other senior leaders of the alliance partners went to meet Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, to tender his resignation as the head of the outgoing government.

The Governor accepted his resignation and asked him to continue as caretaker CM till a new government is formed, said state BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal.

The JD(U) chief is also expected to submit a letter of support from all NDA constituents to the Governor for the formation of the new government.

Kumar was accompanied by Union minister Chirag Paswan, RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha and Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya when he went to meet the Governor.

Several Union ministers Chirag Paswan, Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', Dharmendra Pradhan, RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, UP's Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya were also with them.

The proposal for the leader of NDA was moved by JD(U)'s Vijay Choudhary and seconded by BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha. MLAs of the LJP(RV), HAM and RLM also seconded the proposal, Shrawon Kumar said.

Earlier in the day, Kumar was elected leader of the JD(U)'s legislature party by the newly elected MLAs of the party.

The NDA stormed back to power in Bihar, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, with BJP bagging 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5 and RLM 4.