Nitish Kumar Takes Oath as Bihar CM for 8th Time, Tejashwi Sworn In as his Deputy; Cabinet Expansion Soon

Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the eighth time while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was sworn as his deputy after the JD(U) chief broke ties with the BJP on Tuesday. The two leaders were administered oath by Governor Phagu Chauhan at a private ceremony, attended by the leaders from JD(U), Congress and the RJD, at 2 pm on Wednesday.

Nitish had handed his resignation to the Governor on Tuesday at 4pm and joined hands with the Grand Alliance to form a new government in the state.

The cabinet formation is likely to happen in the near future as the coalition parties have reached an agreement on the allotment of cabinet berths. The JD(U) leader is likely to retain the all-important Home portfolio, while the RJD may get most of the departments that were previously with the BJP, a highly-placed source said.

He said an in-principle agreement has been reached about the composition of the new cabinet, which is likely to have 35 members or more, drawn from Kumar’s JD(U), the RJD and the Congress.

Kumar, who is being commended by opposition parties for joining the anti-BJP camp, also had a telephonic talk with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the political situation. According to broader contours of the power sharing formula, the RJD will have the largest number of ministers, in recognition of the fact that it has a higher number of MLAs.

The JD(U) is likely to have 13 ministers, the RJD has settled for 16. The Congress will be given four berths, while former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM will have one member in the cabinet, the source said.

A broad understanding is said to have been reached among the alliance partners on the names, barring the Congress, which needs the same to be approved by the party high command in Delhi. The JD(U) is likely to reinstate as many of its ministers as possible from the previous cabinet, which was disbanded on Tuesday night vide a notification issued by the chief secretary.

Kumar himself will be keeping Home, which helps him have a control over the police. He is likely to also keep the departments related to welfare of extremely backward castes and minorities, which form his core constituency.

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