Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar on Friday (November 20) took oath as Bihar Chief Minister along with 28 ministers, including RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s two sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap, as the grand alliance government of RJD-JD(U)-Congress was sworn in at a mega ceremony attended by several top leaders from non-BJP parties.

Nitish Kumar taking oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the 5th Time in Patna on Friday, November 20. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)

Besides Nitish, 12 members each from RJD and JD(U) and four from Congress were administered oath as ministers by Governor Ram Nath Kovind.

Nitish Kumar signs after taking oath as Bihar Chief Minister in Patna. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)

Speculation is rife that first time MLA Tejaswi, who was the second person to be sworn in after Nitish at the event held at Gandhi Maidan, will be made Deputy Chief Minister.

Nitish Kumar greets Governor Ram Nath Kovind after taking oath as Bihar CM for the 5th time. Portfolios OF the ministers are likely to be allocated soon. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)

A galaxy of leaders including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a number of Congress Chief Ministers were present at the swearing in ceremony of the new Bihar government. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)

Former JD(U) state President Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Shrawan Kumar and Jay Kumar Singh, all members of the outgoing cabinet also took oath besides former MP Maheshwar Hazari, Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma, Santosh Nirala and Khurshid alias Firoz Ahmad.

Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar during the swearing-in ceremony in Patna on Friday, November 20. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)

New members in the cabinet from JD(U)– Shailesh Kumar, Kumari Manju Varma, Madan Sahni and Kapildeo Kamat also took oath.

Lalu Prasad Yadav alongwith West Begal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during Nitish Kumar's oath taking ceremony in Patna. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)

Hazari, a cousin of Ram Vilas Paswan had defeated the LJP chief’s nephew Prince Raj from Kalyanpur assembly seat. In Lok Sabha elections earlier, he had defeated Paswan’s brother Ram Chandra Paswan.

Lalu Prasad Yadav with Arvind Kejriwal during Nitish Kumar aoth taking ceremony. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)

RJD had won 80 seats in the Bihar poll followed by JD(U) 71 and Congress 27 totalling 178 in the 243-member Legislative Assembly.

Lalu Prasad Yadav alongwith Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Venkaiah Naidu during Nitish Kumar's swearing-in ceremony of the new government at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)

From RJD quota besides Lalu’s sons, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Abdul Gafoor, Vijay Prakash, Chandrika Rai, Alok Kumar Mehta, Ram Vichar Rai, Sheo Chander Ram, Muneshwar Chaudhary, Chandrashekhjar and Anita Devi took oath.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with his ministers team after taking oath as Bihar CM for fifth time in Patna. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Ravi)