Patna, November 16: A total of 14 Ministers, including two Deputy Chief Ministers, took oath to office along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday. The swearing-in was administered by Governor Paghu Chauhan at the Raj Bhavan in Patna. Senior leaders from the ruling camp attended the ceremony, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Nitish Kumar Takes Oath as Bihar Chief Minister For 7th Term; Tarkishore Prasad, Renu Devi Sworn In as Deputy CM.

The maximum among the Ministers who took oath were from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), followed by the Janata Dal (United). One Minister each from the Vikassheel Insaf Party (VIP) and the Hindustan Awami Morcha (Secular) were also inducted.

List of New Bihar Ministers Who Took Oath

  • Santosh Kumar Suman, son of HAM(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi

  • Mukesh Sahni, chief of Vikassheel Insaf Party

  • Vijay Kumar Choudhary, JD)U)

  • Vijendra Prasad Yadav, JD(U)

  • Ashok Choudhary, JD(U)

  • Mewa Lal Choudhary, JD(U)

  • Tarkishore Prasad, BJP (Deputy CM)

  • Renu Devi, BJP (Deputy CM)

  • Mangal Pandey, BJP

  • Amrendra Pratap, BJP

  • Rampreet Paswan, BJP

  • Jeewash Mishra, BJP

  • Ramsurat Rai, BJP

In the days to come, the Cabinet is expected to expanded to induct more leaders from the BJP and the JD(U). From the former, Shreyasi Singh who won the Jamui seat is expected to be included as a Minister.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which emerged as the single-largest party in the assembly elections, boycotted the swearing-in ceremony. The party, in a statement issued before the press, said the mandate of Bihar was "against the NDA".

The RJD also questioned the moral authority of Nitish Kumar continuing as the CM, asking the JD(U) to explain how a party which has emerged third in terms of electoral tally can retain the chief ministerial chair.

In the election results declared last week, the RJD emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats, but ally Congress could manage to win only 19. The Left front, which was also in the Mahagathbandhan coalition, won 16 vidhan sabha segments, taking their overall count to 110.

The NDA, however, succeeded in crossing the majority mark with a slim margin with 125 seats. The BJP won 74 constituencies, followed by JD(U)'s 43, HAM(S) 4 and VIP's 3.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 16, 2020 05:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).