Nitish Kumar sworn in as Bihar chief minister

The soft-spoken former Delhi Daredevil member took oath as deputy chief minister of Bihar on Friday to serve his people with the same humility and modestness with which he has lived his life and played his cricket.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Karnataka Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah were among those in attendance.

A first time MLA, Tejashwi has been given charge of important ministry such as road construction, building constructions and backward class development. According to this formula RJD’s share is 16, JD(U)’s 14 and Congress 5 besides CM.

Ashok Choudhary: The State Congress President has been allotted the human resources department. Tejaswi Yadav, 26, was named as Deputy Chief Minister in the allocation of portfolios announced later. Apart from Tejashwi, his elder brother Tejpratap Yadav also took oath as a minister in the new government. “He also appeared to be receptive and eager to listen to suggestions that were made by his cabinet colleagues and other officials present during the meeting”, an official present in the meeting said.

His aides say Nitish Kumar is a firm believer in hard work and has a vision.

A huge responsibility lies on the shoulders of Nitish Kumar, who took oath as chief minister of Bihar, for the third straight term. Since Choudhari reached the venue of swearing-in ceremony late, he was invited to take oath at number 28.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) also dismissed suggestions that the inclusion of two sons of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad in the Nitish Kumar ministry showed that the politics of dynasty has set in.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had accepted the invitation from Kumar, could not attend the function due to prior engagements. Only Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh, Shrawan Kumar and Jay Kumar Singh were members of the outgoing cabinet. “Even his critics agree”, JD-U state president Vashisht Narain Singh, who has known Nitish Kumar since the 1990s, told. Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Director General of Police were also present in the meeting. Shailesh Kumar, Kumari Manju Verma, Madan Sahni and Kapildeo Kamat are first-timers.