Patna, 20 November (H.S.): Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a record-extending tenth time on Thursday, following the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) landslide victory in the recent state assembly elections. The grand ceremony, held at Patna's historic Gandhi Maidan, served as a powerful demonstration of the NDA's political strength

The event was attended by a host of high-profile national leaders, underscoring the significance of the victory . Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest, accompanied by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP National President J.P. Nadda.Also in attendance were the chief ministers of several NDA-ruled states, including Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), and Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), as well as key ally and Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Bihar is once again on the path of development... it will progress with PM Modi's blessings... will progress through good governance and development, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav told reporters at the venue.Alongside Nitish Kumar, 19 other MLAs took the oath of office to form the new state cabinet. Senior BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha were sworn in and are set to serve as the Deputy Chief Ministers, reprising their previous roles.

The new cabinet reflects the NDA's power-sharing formula, with the BJP, as the senior partner with 89 seats, taking the majority of ministerial berths.Prominent new faces in the cabinet include two-time MLA and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist shooter Shreyasi Singh from the BJP. The sons of two other key allies, Santosh Manjhi of the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and Deepak Prakash of the Rashtriya Lok Manch (RLM), were also inducted as ministers. Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) also secured a cabinet position.

With this tenth term, Nitish Kumar, already one of India's longest-serving chief ministers, is on track to surpass former Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling's record of 24 years in office if he completes the full five-year term. The NDA's decisive win, securing 202 of the 243 assembly seats, marks a resounding mandate for the alliance in the state.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar