Patna stage set for Nitish Kumar to take charge as CM for 10th time
20 ministers likely to be sworn in today; PM and Shah to attend
Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar during a public rally ahead of the state Assembly polls, at Bhavani pur. (@Jduonline/X via PTI Photo) 
Staking claim Wednesday to form the next government in Bihar where the NDA returned to power at the head of a landslide in the Assembly elections, JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar will be sworn in as Chief Minister for a record tenth time at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda and other senior leaders of the NDA are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
On Wednesday, Nitish was unanimously elected leader of the NDA at a meeting of its 202 legislators in the Central Hall of the Assembly. He was felicitated with a huge garland at the meeting where Union Minister and BJP Bihar in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, LJP (RV) chief Chirag Paswan, RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha and HAM (S) patron Jitan Ram Manjhi were also present.
The JD (U) had elected Nitish as leader of its legislature party at a separate meeting. He met Governor Arif Mohammed Khan soon after the NDA meeting and tendered his resignation as Chief Minister and also staked claim to form the next government. The existing Assembly was dissolved Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, at a meeting of the BJP’s newly elected MLAs, UP Deputy Chief Minister and party Central observer Keshav Prasad Maurya declared Samrat Choudhary as leader of the BJP legislature party and Vijay Kumar Sinha as deputy leader again, signalling both could be retained as Deputy CMs.
NDA legislature party leader Nitish Kumar meets Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Wednesday. (ANI)
Sources said a total of 20 ministers, including Nitish, will be sworn in. While the BJP is likely to retain Mangal Pandey, Nitish Mishra and Nitin Nabin as ministers, it could induct some new faces.
The JD (U) is also likely to retain its senior ministers Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Shravan Kumar besides adding a couple of new faces.
The LJP (RV)’s three ministerial choices will likely represent different castes. The RLM is expected to name Sasaram MLA Snehlata (wife of RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha) as minister while HAM (S) is likely to retain Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, as minister.
BJP sources said the party has bargained hard with the JD (U) to retain the post of Speaker. Senior BJP leader and former minister Prem Kumar is tipped to be the new Speaker.
On November 14, the NDA stormed back to power, winning 202 of the 243 seats in the Assembly. The BJP bagged 89, JD (U) 85, LJP (RV) 19, HAM 5 and RLM 4.
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