Nitish Kumar to take oath as Bihar CM tomorrow
What's the story
Nitish Kumar will become the Chief Minister of Bihar for a fourth straight term, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced today after a meeting of its legislators. He will take oath as the CM on Monday afternoon. Leaders of the NDA, which won the recently-concluded Assembly elections in Bihar, met with Governor Phagu Chauhan this afternoon to stake claim to form the government. Here's more.
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'Bihar's people have given opportunity for more development'
"The oath ceremony will take place tomorrow afternoon. The Governor was informed of the NDA's decision and we submitted the letter of support of the MLAs. We will talk and decide who all will take the oath," Kumar said today.
Details
Oath-taking ceremony to take place at Raj Bhavan tomorrow
In a meeting, held at Kumar's official residence in Patna today, he was elected as leader of the NDA legislature party. Meanwhile, BJP's Sushil Modi has been chosen as the Deputy CM. The oath-taking ceremony is expected to be held at the Raj Bhavan around 4:30 pm on Monday. Kumar had formally tendered his resignation on Friday to allow the formation of a new government.
Information
NDA won 125 of 243 Bihar Assembly seats
Earlier, there was speculation over whether Kumar would continue as the CM, given his party JD(U)'s poor performance in the elections. The NDA won 125 of Bihar's total 243 Assembly seats, out of which the BJP grabbed 74, while the JD(U) claimed only 43.
Criticism
Opposition critical of Kumar's election as CM
In the 2020 elections, the JD(U) performed its worst since the 2005 Assembly polls. Hence, the Opposition has been critical of the NDA's decision to elect Kumar as the CM again. "How can someone become Chief Minister after getting 40 seats? People's mandate is against him, he is decimated and should decide on it," Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha has said.
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'Kumar might become CM, but someone else will have remote'
"This time, his (Nitish Kumar's) chances are not the same. The BJP has conspired to weaken him. Now even if he is elected as NDA's leader or Chief Minister, someone else will have the remote to control him (sic)," said Congress leader Tariq Anwar.