Patna: Nitish Kumar on Thursday took oath as the Bihar Chief Minister for a record 10th time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda, and various CMs of BJP-ruled states attended the ceremony.
Kumar (74), who is a member of the legislative council (MLC), did not contest the assembly elections. In all, 26 MLAs also took oath as cabinet ministers at the event held at Patna's Gandhi Maidan. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan administered the oath of office and secrecy to them.
Oath Taking Ceremony:
BJP's Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha are Kumar's deputies.
List of BJP MLAs Taking Oath as Cabinet Ministers:
Samrat Choudhary
Vijay Kumar Sinha
Pramod Kumar
Lakhendra Raushan
Rama Nishad
Narayan Prasad
Surendra Mehata
Arun Shankar Prasad
Sanjay 'Tiger' Singh
Shreyasi Singh
Ram Kripal Yadav
Nitin Nabin
Dilip Jaiswal
Mangal Pandey
JDU MLAs Taking Oath as Bihar Ministers:
Vijay Kumar Choudhary
Bijendra Prasad Yadav
Shrowan Kumar
Leshi Singh
Madan Sahni
Sunil Kumar
Mohammad Jama Khan
Ashok Chowdhary
Meanwhile, BJP's Prem Kumar is likely to be the Speaker of the Bihar Assembly.
Kumar (71), who is a member of the legislative council (MLC), did not contest the assembly elections.
Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LHPRV), the Hindustan Awam Morcha- Secular (HAMS) and Rashtriya Lok Manch (RLM) got a berth each in the cabinet.
Deepak Prakash from the RLM and Santosh Manjhi from HAMS were sworn in as ministers. Sanjay Kumar of LJP(RV) was also included in the Bihar cabinet.
In the recently concluded assembly polls the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) emerged recorded a landslide victory with 202 seats out of 243.
In the NDA, the BJP won 89 seats, the JD(U) won 85, the LJPRV won 19, the HAMS won five, and the RLM won four seats.
Among opposition parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 25 seats, the Indian National Congress (INC) six, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) [CPI(ML)(L)] two, the Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) one, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] one seat.
The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) secured five seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won one seat.
