Nitish stakes claim to form govt in Bihar, says swearing-in ceremony on Monday

Nitish Kumar later went to the Governor’s house to hand over the letter for government formation and list of MLAs of the alliance. One independent candidate has also extended support to the NDA.

Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar on Sunday staked claim to form government in Bihar and said swearing-in ceremony will take place on Monday.

Talking to reporters outside his residence upon returning from the Raj Bhavan, Kumar said the swearing-in will take place Monday evening and parried questions about details like whether BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi would be returning as his deputy.

“The Governor was handed over the letter of support from all four constituents of the NDA. As per his direction, we shall be taking oath at the Raj Bhavan, tomorrow, around 4- 4.30 P.M”, said Kumar.

“After the swearing-in, we will convene the meeting of the cabinet where a decision on convening the assembly session will be taken”, said Kumar.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners which met on Sunday at the CM’s official residence, chose Nitish Kumar as the next chief minister of Bihar.

The meeting was attended by all the 125 newly-elected alliance MLAs comprising BJP, JD (U), HAM-S and VIP.

Kumar later went to the Governor’s house to hand over the letter for government formation and list of MLAs of the alliance. One independent candidate has also extended support to the NDA.

In the recently concluded Bihar assembly elections, the BJP had won 74 seats, JD-U 43, while eight seats were won by two other NDA constituents. The NDA combined won 125 seats, which is three more than the majority mark in the 243-strong Bihar assembly. The RJD, led by 31-year-old Tejashwi Yadav, emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats. The opposition alliance won 110 seats.

The Bihar governor dissolved the assembly on November 13.