Patna: JDU leader Nitish Kumar is all set to take oath as Bihar's chief minister once again on Friday.
An array of personalities are likely to witness the swearing-in ceremony of the JDU leader who is set to take over as Bihar CM for the third straight term. The ceremony will take place at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna. Here are some of the political bigwigs who are likely to grace the occasion:-
PM Modi won't attend
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accepted invitation from Nitish Kumar but would not be able to attend the function due to prior engagements. He has deputed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu to represent the Union Government at the ceremony.
Also, the Chief Minister's Office has released a list of guests which include Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister H D Devegowda, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, his National Conference counterpart Farooq Abdullah and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
9 CMs to attend
The official guest list has names of nine chief ministers including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav.
6 CMs of Congress-ruled states
Six chief ministers of Congress ruled states would also attend. They are Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, Sikkim CM P K Chamling, Manipur CM O Ibobi Singh and Arunachal Pradesh CM Nabam Tuki.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad,
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, D Raja of CPI and T M K Stalin of the DMK have also confirmed their participation.
BJP ally Shiv Sena has accepted invitation and decided to send two Maharashtra Ministers Ram Das Kadam and Subhash Desai to the function.
Former CMs
The event would also be graced by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah besides Sheila Dixit, Bhupendra Singh Hooda, Ajit Jogi, Babu Lal Marandi, Hemant Soren of the JMM and Shankar Singh Baghela.
President of National Lok Dal Ajit Singh and former Union Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel would also be present on the occasion.
Abhya Chautala of the INLD, BBM leader Prakash Ambedkar, eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani, Raj Babbar and H K Dua are among the confirmed guests in the list.
Along with these guests from across the country, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his JD(U) counterpart Sharad Yadav would also be present at the ceremony.
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