JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Wednesday took oath as Bihar chief minister for the eighth time in a ceremony at Raj Bhawan. RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav was administered the oath of office as deputy chief minister. The no-frills ceremony comes a day after Kumar snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD to form a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government.
For some, it was a reversal of happenings in 2017, when he dumped the RJD-led 'Mahagathbandhan' to rejoin the NDA, while for others it was a reversal of happenings in Maharashtra where a Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP government was overthrown to form a BJP-rebel Sena government.
The frequent change of platforms from secular socialist to aligning with a right-wing party to being an upholder of Dalit rights may have diminished Nitish’s standing as the ‘sushasan’ (good governance) man, but his political ability to do the impossible has certainly not diminished.
After taking oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the eighth time, Nitish Kumar countered the BJP's charge that he had insulted the public mandate by walking out of the alliance with BJP and tying up with the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
