Nitish Kumar To Take Oath As Bihar CM Today; Amit Shah, JP Nadda To Attend Ceremony

Patna: Nitish Kumar will be sworn in as the Bihar chief minister for a fourth straight term and 13 ministers from NDA parties will be sworn in by Governor Phagu Chauhan here on Monday.

The ceremony will be attended by the top BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda.

The BJP, which has clinched 31 more seats than the 43 pocketed by Kumar's JD(U), is likely to have two deputy chief ministers on the lines of Uttar Pradesh. The names of four- time MLAs Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, who were chosen the leader and the deputy leader of the BJP legislature party on Sunday, are doing the rounds for the post.

According to BJP sources, party national general secretary (organization) B L Santhosh will also be present at the ceremony.

According to a Raj Bhavan communication, Governor Phagu Chauhan will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Kumar at 4:30 pm.

Apart from Nitish Kumar, Tarkishore Prasad (Deputy CM), Ashok Chaudhary, Vijay Chaudhary, Mewa Lal Chaudhary, Bijendra Yadav, Renu Devi, Mangal Pandey, Prem Kumar, Samrat Chaudhary, Nitish Mishra, Nandkishore Yadav, VIP President Mukesh Sahani, and Hindustani Awam Morcha President Jitan Ram Manjhi's son Santosh Kumar Sharan are to be sworn in a ceremony at the Governor's House.

Even as a Pro-Tem Speaker is to be sworn in, it is not yet clear if he or she will be from among these persons or not.

BJP workers are enthused over the visit of Shah, arguably the second most powerful man in the ruling dispensation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had set the tone for election campaign much before the schedule was announced by addressing the party's first digital rally but remained conspicuous by his absence during the electioneering.

After his electoral victories in 2010 and 2015, Kumar had taken oath at star-studded ceremonies held at the sprawling Gandhi Maidan in the presence of a large number of dignitaries and the common people.

This time, however, it is going to be a much more subdued affair on account of the COVID 19 pandemic.

(With Agency Inputs)