In a political turn of events, Nitish Kumar, the Janata Dal (United) chief, took the oath as chief minister of Bihar for a record ninth time, on January 28. This occasion came after a series of shifts in his political alliances.
Alongside Nitish, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha from the BJP were sworn-in as deputy chief ministers in the new government.
Earlier in the day, Nitish had stepped down as the chief minister, formally marking an end to the Mahagathbandhan government in the state. His move also led to his exit from the Opposition INDIA bloc.
"Things were not working well...," Nitish told reporters earlier in the day, as he had submitted his resignation to the Governor and simultaneously staked claim to form a new government with the BJP and its NDA partners in the state.
Notably, Nitish's journey as the chief minister of Bihar began in the year 2000, and his political journey has been marked by twists and turns, alliances, and resignations.
He served as the chief minister from 2005 to 2013 in alliance with the BJP, but thereafter broke his ties with the saffron party after it projected Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections.
In 2015, Nitish aligned with the Congress and the RJD to form the Mahagathbandhan, and the alliance won the Assembly elections. In 2017, he severed ties with the RJD and the Congress and rejoined the NDA. This was followed by another political flip in 2022, when he returned to the Mahagathbandhan fold.
Within two years, Nitish is back in the NDA, and is heading another coalition government alongside the BJP.
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