JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar was sworn in on Thursday as Bihar’s chief minister for a record 10th term, days after the NDA’s sweeping assembly poll victory. Bihar Governor Arif Muhammad Khan administered the oath at Patna's historic Gandhi Maidan, which has hosted his inaugurations in 2005, 2010, and 2015.
It is at this venue that Jayaprakash Narayan called for "total revolution" during a speech in 1974.
Senior BJP leaders Vijay Kumar Sinha and Samrat Choudhary took oath as Deputy Chief Ministers.
Apart from the trio, other cabinet ministers were also sworn in, prominent among those who took the oath on the occasion were Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, the leader and deputy leader, respectively, of the BJP legislative party, both of whom were deputy CMs in the previous NDA government in the state.
At least three ministers are members of the state legislative council.
They are JD(U) national general secretary Ashok Choudhary, one of the most trusted aides of the CM, state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Santosh Kumar Suman.
Shreyasi Singh, an award-winning shooter who got elected from Jamui for a second consecutive term, was a new entrant into the cabinet.
Rama Nishad, wife of former Muzaffarpur MP Ajay Nishad, who had joined the BJP in the thick of elections and got elected from Aurai, has also been inducted into the state cabinet.
Another ninth-term MLA Bijendra Prasad Yadav, from the JD(U), was back in the state cabinet.
None of the inductees were from Union minister Chirag Paswan's LJPRV and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's RLM, which have 19 and four berths, respectively.
In the outgoing government, the BJP had 15 ministers, JD(U) 12, including CM Nitish Kumar, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) had one, and one minister who was an Independent candidate.
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan administered the oath of office and secrecy to them.
Nitish Kumar arrived at Gandhi Maidan for the swearing-in ceremony accompanied by senior NDA leaders, including JP Nadda, and Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath, Devendra Fadnavis, N. Chandrababu Naidu and Bhupendra Patel.
Several other NDA chief ministers were also in attendance, among them Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio and Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Ahead of the ceremony, Nitish Kumar on Thursday took to X to share his thoughts, “I, Nitish Kumar, swear by God… This sentence is a symbol of the unwavering faith and self-confidence of crores of Biharis. Today, from the historic Gandhi Maidan, this voice will echo once again, and Bihar will embark on a new journey of development,” he wrote.
He extended his congratulations and best wishes to all Biharis on the occasion, calling it a “historic moment” for the state. Earlier, JD(U) had shared a post stating, “History is about to be made in Bihar. Honorable Nitish Kumar ji will take the oath for the post of Chief Minister, a symbol of Bihar's development and trust. Bihar will write another new chapter of development; this moment will be a moment of pride for all Biharis. Let us all witness this historic moment.”
Kuma had submitted his resignation as the outgoing chief minister to Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Wednesday. He was accompanied by Union Minister Chirag Paswan, RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Following meetings of newly elected MLAs, Kumar was elected leader of the NDA legislature party. Senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary was chosen as the party’s legislature leader, with Vijay Kumar Sinha appointed deputy leader. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, appointed as central observer by the BJP for the legislature party election in Bihar, was present at the meeting, alongside Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and former Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, who were co-observers for the process.
The NDA stormed back to power in Bihar, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly. BJP secured 89 seats, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5, and RLM 4.
Meanwhile, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor described his decision not to contest the Bihar polls as a “mistake,” noting that his party received less than 4% of votes. In an interview with NDTV, he said, “My decision not to contest polls can be considered a mistake. We have to do a lot to achieve a satisfactory result. I had never expected that our party would get less than 4% votes in the assembly polls.” Kishor also asserted his commitment to future electoral efforts, stating, “I will not back down without winning Bihar. I don’t know how much time it will take.”
Kishor on Monday began a day-long silent fast. He visited the Bhitiharwa Ashram in West Champaran district, set up by Mahatma Gandhi about a century ago, for his "maun upvaas", according to a statement issued by the Jan Suraaj Party.
It was at this very spot, three years ago, that Kishor - who is known for his deep admiration for Mahatma Gandhi - began a 3,500-kilometre 'pada yatra', which later culminated in the creation of the Jan Suraaj Party on Gandhi Jayanti in 2024.
(With inputs from Agencies)
The NDA leaders who took oath:
Vijay Kumar Choudhary - JD(U)
Bijendra Prasad Yadav - JD(U)
Shravan Kumar - JD(U)
Mangal Pandey - BJP
Dilip Kumar Jaiswal - BJP
Ashok Choudhary - JD(U)
Lesi Singh - JD(U)
Madan Sahani JD(U)
Nitin Nabin - BJP
Ram Kripal Yadav - BJP
Santosh Kumar Suman - HAM(S)
Sunil Kumar - JD(U)
Mohammad Zama Khan - JD(U)
Sanjay Singh Tigar - BJP
Arun Shankar Prasad - BJP
Surendra Mehta - BJP
Narayan Prasad - BJP
Rama Nishad - BJP
Lakhendra Kumar Raushan - BJP
Shreyashi Singh - BJP
Pramod Kumar - BJP
Sanjay Kumar - LJP(RV)
Sanjay Kumar Singh - LJP(RV)
Deepak Prakash – RLM