Bihar: Nitish Kumar to take oath as Chief Minister for 8th time today

Patna (Bihar): Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar is likely to take oath as Bihar's chief minister again on Wednesday afternoon after having announced a new "Grand Alliance" which includes Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other Opposition parties. Tejashwi Yadav is also likely to take oath as Deputy Chief Minister.

Seven parties including 164 MLAs along with independent MLA in our Mahagathbandhan, says Nitish Kumar at a joint presser with RJD's Tejashwi Yadav after meeting Bihar Governor. Kumar ended his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance and rejoined hands with RJD on a day of rapidly changing political developments in Bihar.

According to a tweet by Kumar's new alliance partner RJD, the swearing-in ceremony will be held at 2 pm at Raj Bhavan. "The swearing-in ceremony of Honorable Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister will be held tomorrow at 2 pm at Raj Bhavan," the party said in a tweet from its official handle. While the RJD tweet did not mention any names, it is widely expected that Nitish Kumar would be the chief minister while Tejashwi Yadav would become his deputy.

In a day of fast-paced political developments, Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar twice met Governor Phagu Chauhan, first to hand over his resignation as NDA chief minister and then after being elected leader of the RJD-led `Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) to stake a claim for the top job in the state once again. Kumar said he submitted a list of 164 MLAs to the governor who will decide when the oath-taking can take place. The effective strength of the state Assembly is 242 and the magic figure is 122. Notably, it will be the eighth time when Nitish Kumar will be sworn in as Chief Minister of Bihar. Meanwhile, BJP lashed out at Nitish Kumar over his decision and said he had "disrespected the mandate given by the people of Bihar".

(ANI)