Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar Chief Minister for record 10th time

PATNA: Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar on Thursday took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for a record 10th time in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The PM had skipped the swearing-in ceremony in the year 2020.

#WATCH | Nitish Kumar takes oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the 10th time in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda and other NDA leaders at Gandhi Maidan in Patna.

(Source: DD News) pic.twitter.com/03stl7w6gk

— ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2025

The swearing-in ceremony took place at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan here, which has hosted his inaugurations in 2005, 2010, and 2015. It is at this venue that Jayaprakash Narayan called for “total revolution” during a speech in 1974.

Various Chief Ministers of NDA-ruled states were also present at the oath-taking ceremony. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, among others, were present.

#WATCH | Nitish Kumar greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi after taking oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the 10th time at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. pic.twitter.com/toCJx5ac0H

— ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2025

Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and LJP (RV) Chief Chirag Paswan, among others, participated in the ceremony at Gandhi Maidan.

On Wednesday, Nitish Kumar was first elected as leader of the JD (U) Legislature Party during the meeting with the new MLAs held at his official residence in Patna. He was also unanimously elected as leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Legislature Party ahead of the formation of a new government under his leadership in the State today.

Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha were also elected as leader and deputy leader of the BJP Legislature Party, respectively, during the meeting held at the BJP State headquarters.

Uttar Pradesh’s Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who was appointed as the central observer for the election of the Legislature Party Leader in Bihar, proposed the names of both leaders, and the remaining MLAs supported the proposal.

The 2025 Bihar Assembly polls were considered as the litmus test for Nitish Kumar, who has managed to steer the politics of Bihar around him in every election over the past 20 years. The 74-year-old Nitish Kumar has been Chief Minister since November 2005, with a brief nine-month gap in 2014-15.

The Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar has staked a claim to form the government in Bihar after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept 202 assembly constituencies. He met Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan yesterday and tendered his resignation as the Chief Minister.

The NDA registered a historic landslide victory in the 2025 Bihar assembly polls, winning 202 of the 243 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan managed to secure only 35 seats. The ruling alliance secured a three-fourths majority in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, marking the second time the NDA crossed the 200-seat mark in state polls. In 2010, it had won 206 seats.

In the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 89 seats, Janata Dal (United) won 85, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJPRV) won 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS) won five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four seats.

Among opposition parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 25 seats, the Indian National Congress six, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) [CPI(ML)(L)] two, the Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) one, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] one seat. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) secured five seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won one seat.

The Bihar assembly elections were held in two phases on November 6 and 11. Bihar recorded a historic 67.13 per cent voter turnout, the highest since 1951, with women voters outpacing men (71.6 per cent vs 62.8 per cent). (ANI)