Nitish takes oath as Bihar CM for record 8th time

After swearing-in ceremony, Nitish Kumar rubbished BJP's claim that the new government will not last its full term and said his former ally "will be back where they were after the 2015 assembly polls" when the NDA could get less than 50 seats in the 243-strong assembly

Patna: JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Wednesday took oath as Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time in a no-frills ceremony at Raj Bhavan, a day after snapping ties with the BJP-led NDA and joining hands with the RJD to form a 'Mahagathbandhan' government.

Kumar was sworn in besides RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, who is likely to be designated as his deputy. A notification is likely to be issued tonight, naming him as the deputy chief minister. Other cabinet ministers will be sworn in later once the three main alliance partners - the JD(U), RJD and Congress - decide on the number of berths and the legislators who will be made ministers.

Kumar is likely to retain the all-important Home portfolio, while the RJD may get most of the departments that were previously with the BJP, a highly-placed source said. He said an in-principle agreement has been reached about the composition of the new cabinet, which is likely to have "35 members or more", drawn from Kumar's JD(U), the RJD and the Congress.

Euphoric scenes were witnessed outside the Raj Bhavan and residences of Kumar and Yadav, as hundreds of supporters of JD(U) and RJD celebrated beating drums, bursting crackers and distributing `laddus' (sweetmeats).

Talking to reporters shortly after he was administered the oath of office by Governor Phagu Chauhan, Kumar rubbished BJP's claim that the new government will not last its full term, and said his former ally "will be back where they were after the 2015 assembly polls" when the NDA could get less than 50 seats in the 243-strong assembly.

Meanwhile, leaders of the BJP, which is the second largest party in the assembly with 77 MLAs, were conspicuous by their absence at the swearing-in ceremony.

"We have received no invitation. We would have, in any case, not liked to witness formation of a government which has been installed after betraying the people of Bihar, who voted for the NDA in the last assembly polls, and is an insult to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who stuck to his promise of backing Kumar for another term, despite the JD(U)'s poor performance," BJP leader Sushil Modi told a press conference.