Nitish Kumar sworn in as Bihar CM for 8th time, Tejashwi to be his deputy

Nitish Kumar with 45 legislators in the 243-member Bihar Assembly took oath as the chief minister (CM) for an eighth time after dumping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and tying up with the Grand Alliance. His first remark to reporters was: “Will those who came to power in 2014, be victorious in 2024?  I would like all (Opposition) to be united for 2024,” leaving no one in any doubt that the Opposition now had another aspirant for India’s top job. For his part however, the new CM said: “I am not a contender for any such post (PM post).”

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav was the only other appointment on Wednesday, sworn in as deputy CM, a position he had held earlier. The full complement of the portfolios he will hold is yet to be announced. The two men held a ‘cabinet’ meeting later in the day. A visibly exultant Rabri Devi, Tejashwi’s mother, told reporters at the swearing in: “It is because of you people that he (Tejashwi) has got this job,” adding the “the past is forgotten and forgiven”. Hot words and slights were exchanged between Nitish and the younger Yadav in 2017 when the alliance between the RJD and Nitish forged in 2015 crumbled. Nitish had sought the BJP as an ally, charging that he could no longer tolerate the company of a ‘corrupt’ person.

The boot was now on the other foot. No BJP MLA was present at the swearing in, and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Modi said the BJP was ‘not invited’. Modi also had dire predictions for the longevity of the government of the allies: "De facto CM is Tejashwi, Nitish is just the titular head of the government. They (RJD) have a strength of 80, and you (JDU) have 45-46. Everyone knows how Lalu Yadav works. Nitish will be CM for the show and the real CM will be Tejashwi," he told Business Standard. Modi’s argument was made possibly for the benefit of social and class groups that view the RJD and OBCs as a threat to social stability.

He said the present government was a fraud on voters. “In 2020, we got votes in the name of Narendra Modi. When it seemed enthusiasm for the alliance was flagging, Narendra Modi addressed 3 to 4 rallies in a day. The 2020 mandate was for Narendra Modi."

The prime minister himself interestingly hit out at a soft target, avoiding comment on a partner and ally who had just walked out of the BJP-led NDA. While inaugurating the Indian Oil 2G ethanol refinery in Panipat via videoconferencing, Narendra Modi took a jibe at the Congress. “There are those in our country who are flailing in a pool of negative thinking. They are bitter in their disappointment. The people at large are not ready to believe their calumny. And things have come to such a pass that they now want to do black magic, wearing black clothes. I want to tell them that no matter how much superstition and black magic they try to do, the people of this country will not believe them”.