Nitish takes oath as Bihar CM again, with support from BJP

Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar's chief minister for the ninth time on Sunday after severing ties with the Grand Alliance and joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a dramatic development that caps weeks of fevered speculation and tilts the scales against the Opposition in one of India's largest states.

- Vijay Swaroop

Kumar began the day with a meeting of all 45 legislators of his party, then drove to Raj Bhavan to tender his resignation and announce the end of the 17-month-old coalition government run by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (United), Congress and Left parties. He ended the day with a swearing-in ceremony for the third time in four years, and ninth since 2005.

"You people know that I believe in work, and this will continue. I will keep working for the overall development of the state," Kumar said after being sworn in.

Along with Kumar, two deputy chief ministers from the BJP, the larger alliance partner, were sworn in. They were Samrat Choudhary, who was the party's state president, and Vijay Sinha, an upper-caste leader who was leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly.

BJP chief JP Nadda welcomed Kumar's return.

"We are happy to have him back. Bihar has enjoyed stability whenever we have shared power. Things have looked up, be it infrastructure or law and order," he said.

The RJD, which joined hands with Kumar in August 2022, hit out at the JD(U) chief and claimed credit for the work done by the government in the last 17 months.

Former Bihar deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav called Kumar "a tired CM". "Khel abhi shuru hui hai, khel abhi baki hain (the game has just begun, it's not over yet). I can give you in writing that the JDU party will be finished in 2024. The public is with us...," he said.

The JD(U) has 45 members in the 243-member Bihar assembly and the BJP has 78. A party or a grouping needs 122 lawmakers to form the government. The RJD, Congress, and Left parties have 114 lawmakers. The RJD is the single-largest party with 79 lawmakers.