Bihar Government Oath On Nov 20, PM Modi, All Top Ministers To Be Present

Following the NDA's thumping victory in the Bihar Assembly polls, JDU chief Nitish Kumar will take the oath as Chief Minister on Thursday at the historic Gandhi Maidan in the state capital Patna.

The event, sources have said, is being planned as a massive strength of the NDA and is likely to see the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top Union Ministers, and Chief Ministers of all NDA-ruled states. 

The Patna administration has started preparations for the grand event, and a meeting of the district's top administrative and police officers has been held to fine-tune key points.

In the two-phase Assembly polls held earlier this month, the NDA bloc scored a mammoth win. The NDA tally touched 202, with the BJP winning 89 seats and the JDU 85. The Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas) was the other key contributor in the NDA fold, winning 19 seats. 

NDTV has earlier reported that the BJP may get 15-odd ministerial berths in the new cabinet, while 14 cabinet positions may go to JDU MLAs. The LJP (Ram Vilas) may get three seats in the new Nitish Kumar government. Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha are likely to get one cabinet berth each. 

The formal process of electing Nitish Kumar as the NDA coalition leader will be completed today, sources have said.

This will be the tenth time Nitish Kumar takes the oath as the Chief Minister. The JDU chief first became Chief Minister in 2005 and is credited with putting Bihar on the path of development. He had succeeded RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the top post.

Nitish Kumar is the longest-serving Chief Minister of Bihar, but his tenure was punctuated by a short break when he stepped away from the top post after the 2014 Lok Sabha election, and propped up Jitan Ram Manjhi, then his close aide and now a political rival.