JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Wednesday took oath as Bihar chief minister for the eight time in a ceremony at Raj Bhawan in Patna. RJD's Tejashwi Yadav was administered the oath of office as deputy chief minister.
The no-frills ceremony comes a day after Nitish snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD to form a Mahagathbandhan' government.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav takes oath as Bihar Deputy Chief Minister during a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan, in Patna PTI picture
Moments earlier, Nitish spoke to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad before taking oath. "Laluji welcomed Nitish's decision and conveyed his wishes to him," the RJD chief's daughter and MP Misa Bharti said. Lalu is recovering from an illness and stays with his daughter in Delhi, reports PTI.
Stripped of power in Bihar, the BJP on Wednesday staged a massive demonstration condemning the betrayal of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose similar volte- face five years ago had helped it join the government through the proverbial back door.
The `Maha Dharna' (massive demonstration) staged in front of the party office at Birchand Patel Marg was attended by all BJP MPs and MLAs from Bihar who vowed to expose the 71 years old JD(U) leader through agitations scheduled at district and block levels later this week.
Nitish Kumar, who was once the bete noire of Yadav, had allied with him before the 2015 assembly polls in Bihar and the alliance swept the elections. Now again seven years later, he has joined hands with the RJD after breaking his alliance with the BJP.
Nitish had on Tuesday quit the BJP, stripping the party of power, before resigning and staking a claim to form a new government, armed with the support of the Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance).
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar being greeted by Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav after taking oath, at Raj Bhavan in Patna PTI picture
The 71-year-old JD(U) leader first took oath as chief minister in 2000, when he headed an NDA government that lasted only a week. He was back in 2005, this time with his coalition having won an absolute majority in the assembly polls.
The NDA won a landslide victory under his leadership in the assembly polls five years later. Kumar stepped down in 2014, owning moral responsibility for the drubbing of JD(U) in the Lok Sabha polls, but returned less than a year later when he was sworn in for the fourth time.
In 2015, Nitish was back as CM, with the Grand Alliance then comprising the JD(U), RJD and Congress winning a comfortable majority. He resigned in July 2017, citing irreconcilable differences with the RJD, and got sworn in again less than 24 hours later, when he formed a new government with the BJP.
Nitish was sworn in for the seventh time in November 2020, when the NDA retained power, though his own party saw a major fall in its tally for which it blamed a conspiracy by the BJP.