Kumar is on course to becoming the longest-serving chief minister of the state, surpassing the record of Shrikrishna Singh who held the top post since before Independence till his death in 1961.
Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar was on Monday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the seventh time in two decades while Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi took oath as the deputy chief ministers.
Since the post of a deputy chief minister is not a constitutional one, the two took oath as ministers and their posts would be notified by the Cabinet in due course.
Others who took oath as ministers include Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Vijendra Prasad Yadav, Ashok Choudhary, Sheela Kumari Mandal and Mewa Lal Choudhary (JDU), Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Mukesh Sahni of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), Mangal Pandey, Ramprit Paswan, Jibesh Kumar and Ram Surat Rai, and Amarendra Pratap (BJP).
Patna: JDU leaders Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Vijendra Prasad Yadav, Ashok Choudhary, and Mewa Lal Choudhary take oath as Cabinet Ministers of Bihar. pic.twitter.com/peFgFjM8vq
— ANI (@ANI) November 16, 2020
The oaths were administered at the Raj Bhavan by Governor Phagu Chauhan in a ceremony attended by top leaders of the NDA including Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda.
The Opposition alliance consisting of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and three Left parties, however, decided to boycott the swearing-in with Tejashwi Yadav’s party repeating its allegations of fraud.
“The RJD boycotts oath-taking ceremony of this puppet government. The mandate is for a change, and against the (ruling) NDA. The people’s verdict has been changed by the ruler’s order,” the RJD alleged in a tweet.
“Ask the unemployed, the farmer, the contract worker and teacher as to what they are going through. People are angry with the NDA’s fraud. We are public representatives and we stand with people,” it said.
राजद शपथ ग्रहण का बायकॉट करती है। बदलाव का जनादेश NDA के विरुद्ध है। जनादेश को ‘शासनादेश’ से बदल दिया गया। बिहार के बेरोजगारों,किसानो,संविदाकर्मियों, नियोजित शिक्षकों से पूछे कि उनपर क्या गुजर रही है।NDA के फर्ज़ीवाड़े से जनता आक्रोशित है। हम जनप्रतिनिधि है और जनता के साथ खड़े है
— Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) November 16, 2020
The RJD, which emerged as the single-largest party in Bihar with 75 seats, also claimed the state is getting a “helpless government by the two helpless parties”.
The party also took a dig at Nitish’s reported remark at Sunday’s NDA meeting that he did not want to become the chief minister but that the BJP insisted he continue in the post.
“I did not want to become chief minister because my party came third and also I was tired. But, several BJP leaders grabbed my feet, started crying and pleading before me. I, being a soft-hearted, power-hungry mendicant, was moved. How could I annoy them,” the RJD said in a tweet laced with sarcasm.
Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha said they were with the RJD. The CPI, CPI-ML and CPM also stayed away from the swearing-in.
“We have been fighting against them (the NDA) so how come we can be part of their crowning,” CPI-ML state secretary Kunal earlier told news agency PTI.
Soon after Nitish was sworn in, Tejashwi extended his best wishes to the JD(U) chief on being “nominated” to the post, saying, “I hope that instead of (focusing on) the ambition of the chair, he makes the aspirations of Bihar’s people and positive issues such as NDA’s 19 lakh jobs, education, health, income, irrigation and justice the government’s priorities.”
आदरणीय श्री नीतीश कुमार जी को मुख्यमंत्री ‘मनोनीत’ होने पर शुभकामनाएँ। आशा करता हूँ कि कुर्सी की महत्वाकांक्षा की बजाय वो बिहार की जनाकांक्षा एवं NDA के 19 लाख नौकरी-रोजगार और पढ़ाई, दवाई, कमाई, सिंचाई, सुनवाई जैसे सकारात्मक मुद्दों को सरकार की प्राथमिकता बनायेंगे।
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) November 16, 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the JD(U) leader as well as the other leaders who were sworn in as ministers, assuring all possible support from the Centre for the state’s welfare.
Congratulations to @NitishKumar Ji on taking oath as Bihar’s CM. I also congratulate all those who took oath as Ministers in the Bihar Government. The NDA family will work together for the progress of Bihar. I assure all possible support from the Centre for the welfare of Bihar.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 16, 2020
Lok Janshakti Part (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan took a dig at the JD(U) chief while congratulating him, saying he hopes Nitish Kumar remains an “NDA chief minister”.
आदरणीय @NitishKumar जी को फिर से मुख्यमंत्री बनने की बधाई। आशा करता हूँ सरकार अपना कार्यकाल पुरा करेगी और आप एन॰डी॰ए॰ के ही मुख्यमंत्री बने रहेंगे।
— युवा बिहारी चिराग पासवान (@iChiragPaswan) November 16, 2020
Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party had walked out of the NDA in Bihar vowing to oust Nitish from power in the state, also congratulated the BJP on “making” him the chief minister.
Paswan also said that he was sending a copy of the LJP’s manifesto to the 69-year-old chief minister so that he could work on some of the promises made in it.
“Once again I congratulate you on becoming chief minister and the BJP on making you one,” Paswan tweeted along with a website link to his party’s manifesto.
4 लाख बिहारीयों द्वारा बनाया गया #बिहार1stबिहारी1st विजन डॉक्यूमेंट आप को भेज रहा हूँ ताकी उसमें से भी जो कार्य आप पुरा कर सकें वह कर दें। एक बार पुनः आप को मुख्यमंत्री बनने की और भारतीय जनता पार्टी को आप को मुख्यमंत्री बनाने के लिए बधाई।https://t.co/kZvjg56fRZ
— युवा बिहारी चिराग पासवान (@iChiragPaswan) November 16, 2020
The LJP chief congratulated all the other ministers and said the prime minister had achieved a big win in Bihar.
Paswan added that he hoped that the new government would fulfill Modi’s dream of Atmanirbhar Bihar.
बिहार में सभी नवनियुक्त मंत्रियों को ढेर सारी बधाई।आशा करता हूँ आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi जी के आत्मनिर्भर बिहार के सपने को नई सरकार साकार करेगी।बिहार में आदरणीय नरेंद्र मोदी जी की बड़ी जीत हुई है।बिहार की परिस्तिथियों में बेहतर बदलाव हो यह सभी बिहारी की इच्छा है।
— युवा बिहारी चिराग पासवान (@iChiragPaswan) November 16, 2020
Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami also greeted his Bihar counterpart on assuming office for a record fourth straight term and wished him all success: “I congratulate you on your assumption of charge as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a record fourth time (term)
and wish you a successful tenure.”
The oath-taking ceremony took place in Patna a day after day after Nitish staked claim for the formation of a new government in the state, after receiving unanimous support of all legislators of the NDA despite his party’s tally plummeting in the recent elections.
#WATCH: Nitish Kumar takes oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the seventh time – his fourth consecutive term. pic.twitter.com/5jcZXabSYw
— ANI (@ANI) November 16, 2020
The 69-year-old is on course to becoming the longest-serving chief minister of the state, surpassing the record of Shrikrishna Singh who held the top post since before Independence till his death in 1961.
Nitish has had a continuous run since November 2005, except for the period in 2014-15 when Jitan Ram Manjhi occupied the post.
Nitish was first sworn in as CM in 2000, for a term that lasted barely a week as he failed to muster a majority and returned as a minister at the Centre in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Five years later, he came back with the JD(U)-BJP alliance winning a majority and upon completion of his tenure returned in 2010 when the coalition won a landslide victory in the Assembly polls.
He stepped down in May, 2014, taking moral responsibility for the JD(U)s debacle in Lok Sabha polls, only to return in February, 2015 when a rebellious Manjhi was elbowed out.
In November 2015, the Assembly polls were fought and won by the Grand Alliance which then comprised JD(U), RJD and Congress with Nitish back at the top post. He, however, abruptly exited the alliance in July 2017, citing irreconcilable differences with the RJD and resigned as chief minister, only to return in less than 24 hours armed with the support of the BJP.
However, former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, with whom Nitish was said to share a good rapport, was not retained and the state got two deputy CMs in Prasad and Devi.
On Sunday, Prasad, four-term Katihar MLA, was named as the BJP legislature party leader while Devi, MLA from Bettiah, was made the BJP’s deputy legislature party leader.
Prasad hails from the Kalwar caste, which is a part of the Vaishya community that comes under the backward class category. The 52-year-old BJP leader has risen from the ranks of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), an affiliate of the RSS. Prasad has been winning the Katihar constituency since October 2005.
Renu Devi is from the Noniya caste, which is an extremely backward class community. She has been elected four times from Bettiah and was a minister during Nitish’s second term as chief minister.
In the election results for 243-seat Assembly announced on 10 November, the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan lost to the four-party NDA.
The BJP is the largest party within the ruling coalition with 74 seats, followed by JD-U (43) and VIP and HAM with four each. The BJP had announced before the polls that Nitish will remain chief minister irrespective of which NDA constituent wins the maximum number of seats.
The grand alliance bagged 110 seats out of which the RJD accounted for 75 while Congress tally was 19, CPI-ML (12) and CPI and CPM two each.
With inputs from PTI
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