Nitish Kumar sworn in as Bihar CM for 10th time, 19 others took oath as ministers

Patna: JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar on Thursday was sworn in as the chief minister of Bihar for a record 10th time at the Gandhi Maidan here. Kumar took the oath on the Constitution of India.

A total of 9 ministers from BJP, 8 from JD(U) and one from HAM(S) were sworn in during the ceremony.

JD(U)'s Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Shrowan Kumar, Ashok Chowdhary,  Lesi Singh, Madan Sahni, Sunil Kumar, Mohammad Jama Khan, and Santosh Suman of the HAM(S) took oath as ministers on Thursday.

From the BJP side Dilip Jaiswal, Mangal Pandey, Sanjay Singh Tiger, Rama Nishad, Arun Shankar Prasad, Ram Kripal Yadav, Nitin Nabin and Surendra Prasad Mehta were also sworn in as ministers.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kumar and the ministers. 

Kumar had resigned on Wednesday and subsequently met Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to stake claim to form the new government.

The NDA secured 202 seats in the 243-member Assembly, with the BJP winning 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5 and RLM 4.

Nitish Kumar was elected leader of the NDA legislature party at a meeting of newly elected MLAs on Wednesday, state minister Shrawon Kumar told PTI. He then resigned as head of the outgoing government before staking claim to form the new one, state BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, and several senior leaders attended the ceremony. 

Traffic restrictions will be in force from 6.00 am to 3.00 pm around Gandhi Maidan. Emergency vehicles are exempt. Several key stretches, including Bhattacharya Chowk to North Gandhi Maidan, Dakbangla Chowk, Rajendra Path and JP Golambar, will be no-vehicle zones. Restrictions will also apply near IMA Hall, Hotel Panna, Twin Tower, Maurya Hotel and Ashok Rajpath.

General entry to Gandhi Maidan will be through Gates 07, 08, 09 and 10, while VIP pass holders must enter through Gate 04 via Budh Marg. VIP parking has been arranged at Magadh Mahila College, AN Sinha Institute, SBI premises and Gyan Bhawan.

(With PTI and IANS inputs)