Nitish Kumar takes oath as CM of Bihar for record 10th time

JD(U) president Nitish Kumar was on Thursday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a record tenth time at a grand ceremony, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah among those who were present at the swearing-in.

BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda and the party's in-charge for the recently held state polls Dharmendra Pradhan were also among those who had flown down to attend the ceremony, where Kumar, along with a 26-member cabinet, was administered the oath of office by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.

Kumar resigned as chief minister on Wednesday and staked claim to form the new government before Governor Khan.

"My heartiest congratulations to all the colleagues who took oath as ministers in the Bihar government. This is a splendid team of dedicated leaders, which will take Bihar to new heights. My best wishes to all of them!" Modi said on X.

Modi, whose charisma had played a big role in the NDA's massive victory in the assembly polls, regaled the crowds when, towards the end of the ceremony, he rotated his 'gamchha' in his signature style.

A gigantic stage had been set up at the Gandhi Maidan, where the attendees included chief ministers from several states ruled by the NDA, prominent among them being N Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam) and Rekha Gupta (Delhi).

Prominent among those who took the oath on the occasion were Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, the leader and deputy leader, respectively, of the BJP legislative party, both of whom were deputy CMs in the previous NDA government in the state.

At least three ministers are members of the state legislative council.

They are JD(U) national general secretary Ashok Choudhary, one of the most trusted aides of the CM, state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Santosh Kumar Suman.

Shreyasi Singh, an award-winning shooter who got elected from Jamui for a second consecutive term, was a new entrant into the cabinet.

Rama Nishad, wife of former Muzaffarpur MP Ajay Nishad, who had joined the BJP in the thick of elections and got elected from Aurai, has also been inducted into the state cabinet.

Another ninth-term MLA Bijendra Prasad Yadav, from the JD(U), was back in the state cabinet.

None of the inductees were from Union minister Chirag Paswan's LJPRV and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's RLM, which have 19 and four berths, respectively.

In the outgoing government, the BJP had 15 ministers, JD(U) 12, including CM Nitish Kumar, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) had one, and one minister who was an Independent candidate.