As senior Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar was sworn in on Friday afternoon as Bihar’s Chief Minister for a fifth time, he assumed a new role.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had accepted the invitation from Kumar, could not attend the function due to prior engagements.
Lalu’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav fumbled twice while taking oath for first time. JD(U) followed it by winning 71 seats while Congress won 27 and thus the grand-coalition made a total of 178 seats out of 243.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) also dismissed suggestions that the inclusion of two sons of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad in the Nitish Kumar ministry showed that the politics of dynasty has set in. Lalu Prasad’s sons earned the maximum applause after the chief minister from the boisterous crowd.
Mr Kumar and Mr Lalu Yadav, who welcomed the galaxy of leaders in Patna before Mr Kumar took the oath of office on Friday, later invited them to the CM’s official residence for high tea.
Lalu Yadav loyalist Abdul Bari Sidiqqui, who was groomed by Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur, was given the finance portfolio.
RJD’s Chandrika Rai sworn in as Minister in Bihar cabinet. While he will keep Home, Information & Publicity and General Administration departments with him, the “lucrative” Road Construction and Buildings Construction portfolio went to Tejaswi.
From JD (U) party – Nitish Kumar, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Lallan Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Shrawan Kumar, Jay Kumar Singh, Maheshwar Hazari, Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma, Santosh Nirala Khurshid alias Firoz Ahmad Shailesh Kumar, Kumari Manju Varma, Madan Sahni, Kapildeo Kamat. Another of Kumar’s aides, Sharwan Kumar, has been given charge of rural development and Jai Kumar Singh industries. This time, he is heading an alliance government with the RJD and Congress. It is because of the grand alliance government of RJD-JDU-Congress.
Seven more ministers can be accommodated in the Cabinet but the seats have been kept vacant to accommodate future needs.
The other political veterans who attended the event were CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D. Raja, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad, DMK’s M.K. Stalin and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
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BJP ally Shiv Sena also accepted the invitation and sent its representative to the swearing-in ceremony.
