Nitish Kumar to Take Oath As Bihar CM for 8th Time Today; Here’s A List of 7 Times He Took Charge As Chief Minister Before

Nitish Kumar will take oath as chief minister of Bihar today, August 10, a day after he snapped ties with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and announced a 'Mahagathbandan' of seven parties. The ceremony will take place at 2 pm at Raj Bhavan. This will mark the (JD-U) chief's eighth stint as CM.

Here are the seven times since the year 2000 that Nitish has taken oath as CM of Bihar:

First time: March 2000

In the 2000 elections, neither parties could cross the half-way mark of 163 seats. However, the then Governor VC Pande invited Nitish Kumar to form the government and prove his majority in the Assembly. However, he resigned on March 10 before the vote of confidence in the Assembly seven days after he became CM for the first time. Nitish Kumar To Take Oath Today: Why Didn’t BJP Try To Stop JDU Supremo From Leaving NDA Alliance?

Second time: November 2005

After the JDU-BJP alliance won 143 seats in the October-November 2005 polls, Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister for the second time on November 24, 2005.

Third time: November 2010

Kumar was sworn-in as Chief Minister for the second consecutive time on 26 November 2010. The JDU won 115 seats, while ally BJP won 91 seats in the 243-member Assembly. In June 2013, however, the JDU parted ways with the BJP after Narendra Modi was declared as the face of the saffron party. Nitish Kumar To Continue As Bihar CM, Tejaswi Yadav As Deputy CM and Speaker From RJD, Say Sources

Fourth time: February 2015

On February 22,  Nitish Kumar returned as the Chief Minister after a gap of nine months terming his 2014 decision to quit a "mistake". However, Jitan Ram Manjhi, his chosen successor, refused to step down. Later Manjhi finally resigned before the floor test after being expelled by the party for anti-party activities.

Fifth time: November 2015

On November 20, 2015, Mr Kumar was sworn-in as the Chief Minister for fifth time after the Mahagathbandhan of RJD, INC and JD(U) won a landslide majority decimating the BJP.

Sixth time: July 2017

However, the grand alliance couldn’t last long and Kumar broke ties with the RJD in July 2017 after his deputy Tejashwi and RJD supremo Lalu Yadav were named in a corruption scandal. Kumar returned to BJP-led NDA fold on July 27, 2017, when he became the Chief Minister for the sixth time.

Seventh time: November 2020

In the 2020 polls, the NDA alliance (JDU, BJP, Hindustani Awam Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party) won a slim majority of 125 seats in the 243-member Assembly. On November 16, 2020, Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister for the seventh time.

Nitish is once again set to take oath as Bihar Chief Minister today with the support of RJD and Congress, once again coming back with the Mahagathbandhan.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 10, 2022 11:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).