Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Chief Minister of Bihar – for a record-extending tenth time – on Thursday morning, capping a triumphant victory in last week’s Assembly election.
The Janata Dal United, dismissed by his critics as too old and unfit for power, had the last laugh after his party swept 85 of the state’s 243 seats to power itself and its main ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, to a landslide win; the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 202 seats.
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The wily JDU boss – whose longevity, critics complain, is fuelled by an uncanny ability to stay relevant and in power by switching and re-make alliances on the fly – is already independent India’s eighth longest-serving chief minister. And, if he serves out this term, he will be the longest-serving ever, eclipsing ex-Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s 24 years.
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Nineteen MLAs were also sworn in and will form the nucleus of the new government.
With 10 faces, the BJP, which narrowly retained its ‘big brother’ tag over the JDU after winning 89 seats, will take the lion’s share of berths at this time. The Janata Dal will have six faces.
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This is a developing news, stay tuned for the full news update.