PATNA, Nov. 21 — JD(U) president Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Bihar’s Chief Minister for a record tenth term on Thursday, marking another milestone in his political career. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan administered the oath to Kumar and a 26-member cabinet at a grand ceremony held at Gandhi Maidan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda, and Dharmendra Pradhan, the party’s in-charge for the recently held state elections, were among the top leaders who attended the event. “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.
Kumar had resigned as Chief Minister on Wednesday before staking claim to form the new government. The ceremony drew a large crowd, with Modi regaling attendees by rotating his gamchha in his signature style towards the end.
Several NDA chief ministers were present, including Andhra Pradesh’s N Chandrababu Naidu, Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra’s Devendra Fadnavis, Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Delhi’s Rekha Gupta.
Key ministers taking oath included Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, leader and deputy leader of the BJP legislative party in Bihar, who had served as deputy chief ministers in the previous NDA government. JD(U) national general secretary Ashok Choudhary, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal, and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Santosh Kumar Suman were also inducted.
New entrants included Shreyasi Singh, an award-winning shooter re-elected from Jamui, and Rama Nishad, who joined the BJP during the election campaign and was elected from Aurai. Ninth-term MLA Bijendra Prasad Yadav from JD(U) also returned to the cabinet.
None of the ministers came from Chirag Paswan’s LJPRV or Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM, which together hold 23 seats. In the outgoing government, BJP had 15 ministers, JD(U) 12, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) had one, along with one Independent minister.
