Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM for fourth consecutive term; Renu Devi first woman deputy CM

Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar on Monday took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the seventh time in 20 years.

Kumar took oath for the fourth straight term this afternoon after closely-fought legislative assembly elections in the state. 

BJP leaders Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi also take oath as Deputy Chief Ministers, BJP MLA from Patna Sahib Nand Kishor Yadav took oath as the Speaker of Bihar Assembly.

JD(U) leaders Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Vijendra Prasad Yadav, Ashok Choudhary, and Mewa Lal Choudhary take oath as Cabinet Ministers.

Santosh Kumar Suman, son of former CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, was also sworn in. Mukesh Sahni of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) also given a Cabinet berth.

BJP leader and one of the party strategists, Mangal Pandey was also sworn in on Monday. He had earlier served as the state's health minister and faced a volley of criticisms for health care crisis amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda were also present during the ceremony.

The main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) boycotted the swearing-in ceremony stating the mandate was against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Meanwhile, Lok Janashakti Party chief Chirag Paswan, who strayed away from the NDA, congratulated Nitish Kumar on his term in office.

आदरणीय @NitishKumar जी को फिर से मुख्यमंत्री बनने की बधाई। आशा करता हूँ सरकार अपना कार्यकाल पुरा करेगी और आप एन॰डी॰ए॰ के ही मुख्यमंत्री बने रहेंगे।

— युवा बिहारी चिराग पासवान (@iChiragPaswan) November 16, 2020

Kumar, after meeting Governor Phagu Chauhan to stake claim to form the NDA government in Bihar, had on Sunday announced that the oath-taking, as well as the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet, will be held at around 4.30 pm on Monday.

The leaders of the NDA legislature party, which had secured a victory in the recently-concluded election in Bihar, had on Sunday named Kumar as the leader of the NDA legislature party thus paving the way for his return as chief minister for the fourth consecutive term.

The NDA has secured a 125-seat majority in the 243-seat strong Bihar Legislative Assembly of which BJP won on 74 seats, JD(U) on 43 while eight seats were won by two other NDA constituents. The RJD, on the other hand, emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats while the Congress only won 19 of the 70 seats it had contested on.

(With inputs from Rajesh Kumar Thakur and ANI)