Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar on Thursday was sworn in as the chief minister of Bihar for the 10th time.
Kumar has been the chief minister for about 20 years, except for a nine-month period between 2014 and 2015. This makes him one of the longest-serving chief ministers.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha took oath as ministers. They are expected to retain their positions as the deputy chief ministers.
Several ministers were inducted into the state Cabinet.
Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administered the oath of office to Kumar and others. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several chief ministers and Union ministers.
The National Democratic Alliance won the Bihar Assembly polls on November 14, bagging 202 of the 243 seats. A party or an alliance needs 122 seats in the 243-member Assembly to form the government.
The Opposition Mahagathbandhan won 35 seats.
As part of the NDA, Kumar’s JD(U) won 85 seats, almost doubling its tally of 43 seats from the 2020 polls. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 89 of the 101 constituencies it contested. Union minister Chirag Paswan’s faction of the Lok Janshakti Party won 19.
Kumar was the Union railway minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government between 1998 and 1999, and from 2001 to 2004. He also held the agriculture and surface transport portfolios at the Centre for brief periods between 1998 and 2001.
Also read:
- Explainer: Why Nitish Kumar is the real winner of the Bihar election
- Five reasons why Biharis are not done with Nitish Kumar yet
- What the Opposition got so wrong in Bihar
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