After moving out of NDA, a day later on Wednesday Nitish Kumar is all set to take oath as Bihar's chief minister again, the eighth time since he was first sworn in as the CM of the state in 2000.
He took oath as the Chief Minister for the first time on March 3, 2000, despite falling short of a majority, and remained the CM for seven days. Since neither the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) nor the National Democratic Alliance could cross the halfway mark in the Assembly, Nitish resigned on March 10, 2000, even before the vote of confidence could take place in the Assembly.
In 2005 Nitish Kumar took oath as the Bihar CM for the second time after his party won 88 seats and its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 55 seats. The government sailed through the majority mark of 122 in a curtailed 243-member House due to the formation of Jharkhand. He successfully completed his five-year term.
In 2010, he was again sworn in as the CM, but in 2013 he dumped the BJP and after the poll loss he resigned and appointed Jitan Ram Manjhi as the CM. However, he returned as the CM in 2015 and said it was a mistake to resign. In 2015 he allied with the RJD and swept the polls, but in 2017 he parted ways with the RJD and teamed up with the BJP and continued till the Assembly election in 2020. He was sworn in as the CM for the seventh time.
And, now on Wednesday afternoon, he will be taking oath for the eighth time.
Speculation over the contours of the new dispensation has started. According to sources, the new JD(U)-led government is likely to have the same shape as the previous one. Tejashwi Yadav is tipped to be Deputy Chief Minister again and might get a key portfolio such as road construction.
The RJD is also said to be angling to get the Home portfolio, and it is expected that the Speaker's post may go to it. Meanwhile, it is likely the party's Abdul Bari Siddiqui will get the Finance portfolio and Sunil Kumar Singh could be the Cooperative Minister.