Bihar political drama: Nitish Kumar to take oath as Bihar Chief Minister for 8th time in 22 years

Seven parties including 164 MLAs along with independent MLAs will be there in the Mahagathbandhan, Nitish Kumar said. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav is also likely to take an oath as Deputy Chief Minister.

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Patna (Bihar): Amid Bihar's political crisis, Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar is all set to take oath as Bihar's chief minister again. After having announced a new "Grand Alliance" which includes Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other Opposition parties, Nitish will take oath on Wednesday afternoon. Interestingly, this will be the eighth time that Nitish Kumar will take oath as the Bihar CM.

Here are the eight times since the year 2000 that Nitish has taken oath as CM of Bihar:

• First time: March 2000
• Second time: November 2005
• Third time: November 2010
• Fourth time: February 2015
• Fifth time: November 2015
• Sixth time: July 2017
• Seventh time: November 2020
• Eighth time: August 10, 2022 

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav is also likely to take an oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Seven parties including 164 MLAs along with independent MLAs will be there in our Mahagathbandhan, says Nitish Kumar at a joint presser with RJD`s Tejashwi Yadav after meeting Bihar Governor.

Kumar ended his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance and rejoined hands with RJD on a day of rapidly changing political developments in Bihar. According to a tweet by Kumar's new alliance partner RJD, the swearing-in ceremony will be held at 2 pm at Raj Bhavan." The swearing-in ceremony of Honorable Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister will be held tomorrow at 2 pm at Raj Bhavan," the party said in a tweet from its official handle.

On Tuesday, when several fast-paced political developments took place, Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar twice met Governor Phagu Chauhan, first to hand over his resignation as NDA chief minister and then after being elected leader of the RJD-led 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) to stake a claim for the top job in the state once again. Kumar said he submitted a list of 164 MLAs to the governor who will decide when the oath-taking can take place. The effective strength of the state Assembly is 242 and the magic figure is 122.

Meanwhile, BJP lashed out at Nitish Kumar over his decision and said he had "disrespected the mandate given by the people of Bihar". Nitish Kumar, who talked to the media with Tejashwi Yadav, said they have the support of seven parties in Mahagathbandhan. Tejashwi Yadav attacked the BJP and claimed the party does not have an alliance partner across the Hindi heartland. He accused BJP of trying to destroy parties with whom it forms alliances. "Across the Hindi heartland, BJP does not have any alliance partner. History shows that the BJP destroys the parties with whom it forms alliances. We did see that happening in Punjab and Maharashtra," he said. He also referred to the remarks of BJP president JP Nadda."JP Nadda said they will end regional parties. BJP knows only to intimidate and buy people. All of us wanted the BJP's agenda shouldn't be implemented in Bihar, we all know Laluji stopped the 'Rath' of Advaniji, and we won't relent at any cost," Yadav said.

(With ANI inputs)