Nitish to take oath as Bihar CM for record eighth time, JDU back in Opposition front

BIHAR,AUG 10: Nitish Kumar would be sworn in for the record eighth time as Bihar chief minister at 2 PM on Wednesday with support from a new set of allies – RJD, Congress and the Left parties – after he decided to break alliance with the BJP and resign as the head of a coalition government with that party.

During the course of the day, Kumar met Governor Phagu Chauhan twice; first to resign as the chief minister of the JD(U)-BJP coalition government, and a second time to stake claim to form a government with the support of 164 MLAs belonging to seven parties, including the RJD, Congress and the Left.

Kumar gave a list of supporting MLAs to the Governor. The Governor invited him to form a new government on Wednesday.

After putting in his paper as the chief minister, Nitish Kumar drove straight to former chief minister Rabri Devi’s house to discuss the formation of a new government with Rabri’s son and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. Discussions were also held with leaders of the Congress and Left parties.

The decision to break the alliance with the BJP was taken at a meeting of JD(U) MPs and MLAs at Patna.

Party leaders said that the chief minister had received reports that their coalition partner BJP was attempting to break the JD(U) MLAs to form a government minus Nitish Kumar.

-TNIE