NITISH Kumar returns as Bihar CM

NITISH Kumar headed the NDA government took oath as  Chief Minister of Bihar on Monday, November 16. “I didn’t intend to become CM. At the request of BJP leaders, I have accepted their request to head the Bihar Govt”, he later told reporters. Veteran BJP leader  Sushil Kumar Modi will NOT continue as Deputy Chief Minister. There will be two Deputy CMs -Taarehkhwar Prasad and Renu Devi. It will be Nitish Kumar’s straight fourth term as  CM of the problem-ridden eastern state.  Nitish Kumar continues as the NDA Legislature Party’s Leader and  Taarehkhwar Prasad has been elected Leader of the BJP Legislature Party, said Sushil Kumar Modi in a tweet and congratulated  Prasad. They were unanimously elected at a meeting of NDA MLAs held at Nitish Kumar’s  Patna residence on Sunday. The meeting started at 12:30 pm and was attended by a host of NDA leaders. Earlier on Friday, the four NDA partners in Bihar — BJP, JD(U), HAM and VIP — met at Nitish Kumar’s residence for an informal meeting to discuss the future course of action regarding government formation in Bihar.”These formalities have to be completed before the formation of a new government. The cabinet’s recommendations will be forwarded to the governor whose approval will be followed by other steps leading to the formation of a new government,” Kumar added. Despite BJP emerging as the largest party in the ruling alliance in Bihar with 74 seats, the top leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President  JP Nadda has endorsed Nitish Kumar as the next chief minister of the state. It may be noted that the JD(U) has lost a considerable amount of vote share and just managed to win 43 seats in the Bihar elections. Nitish Kumar was also projected as Chief Ministerial candidate in the assembly elections which concluded on November 07. Sushil Kumar Modi has been re-elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party. Nitish Kumar remains the leader of the NDA legislature party. Edited by PK Chakravarty