Janata Dal(United) president Nitish Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the ninth time on Sunday. Along with him, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Vijay Kumar Sinha, Samrat Choudhary and Prem Kumar also took oath as ministers in the new coalition government.
Governor Rajendra Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy at the Raj Bhavan in Patna.
BJP national president J P Nadda and other senior party leaders were present at the swearing in ceremony. Kumar’s former 'Mahagathbandhan' ally RJD boycotted the event, while another former ally Congress remained absent.
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Full List of new Cabinet Ministers in Bihar
1. Nitish Kumar - The JD(U) president was sworn in as the CM of Bihar for the 9th time and twice in the last two years. Kumar returned back to the National Democratic Alliance after 18 months. Kumar spoke to reporters after his oath ceremony, when he said, "I was with them (NDA) earlier too. We went on different paths, but now we are together and will remain so. Today, eight people have taken oath as ministers, the rest will take oath soon. I came back to where I was (NDA) and now there is no question of going anywhere else."
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2. Samrat Choudhary - The BJP leaders is now a deputy chief minister in the new Bihar government. Speaking to PTI, Choudhary said, “I am a worker of (BJP) party and whatever role will be given to me, I will work accordingly. I was a minister in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet earlier; party made me Chief Whip of opposition, so I worked against his government as well. Now, parties that are part of NDA will work together for Bihar."
3. Vijay Kumar Sinha - The coalition government in Bihar led to the inclusion of BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha as another deputy chief minister in the state. After taking oath, Sinha told the media, “We will try to live up to the expectations of the public."
4. Vijay Kumar Choudhary - JD(U)'s Vijay Kumar Choudhary was the Minister for Finance, Commercial Taxes & Parliamentary Affairs in the previous government.
5. Bijendra Prasad Yadav - JD(U) leader Yadav was the former Cabinet Minister for Energy, Planning, and Development in Bihar.
6. Shrawan Kumar - JD(U) leader Kumar was the former Minister of Rural Development and Parliamentary Affairs in Bihar.
7. Prem Kumar - BJP leader Prem Kumar is now part of the new cabinet ministry in Bihar.
8. Santosh Kumar Suman - The Hindustani Awan Morcha leader was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the coalition government.
9. Sumit Kumar Singh - Singh, an independent MLA, also joined Kumar's leadership in Bihar as a cabinet minister.
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According to PTI, the other members of the council of ministers will be decided 'in a day or two'. The Bihar Assembly has a strength of 243 members.
Earlier in the day, Kumar resigned as the chief minister, stating that "things were not working well" for him in the 'Mahagathbandhan' and in the opposition bloc INDIA. He then staked a claim to form a new government with the BJP, which he had parted ways with less than 18 months ago.
PM Narendra Modi congratulated the new Bihar government, he wrote on X, "The NDA government formed in Bihar will leave no stone unturned for the development of the state and to fulfill the aspirations of its people." Also added, "My many congratulations to @NitishKumar ji as Chief Minister and to Samrat Chaudhary ji and Vijay Sinha ji on taking oath as Deputy Chief Ministers."
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Journey of Nitish Kumar as Bihar CM
The JD(U) supremo first took oath as the state's chief minister back in 2000, but his government fell within a week.
In May 2014, he stepped down but returned eight months later, elbowing out his then protege Jitan Ram Manjhi, as CM in November 2015, when the coalition of the JD(U), RJD and Congress won the assembly elections.
In 2017, he resigned, only to form a new government with the BJP. He returned as the CM again after the 2020 assembly polls, which the NDA won, but the JD(U) performed poorly.
