Nitish Kumar stakes claim to form next NDA govt in Bihar
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Patna: Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, offered his resignation to Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Wednesday and staked claims to establish the state's next NDA administration.
Senior NDA leaders, including Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha, and others, accompanied him to the Raj Bhavan.
Kumar handed over a list of 202 newly elected MLAs to Arif Mohammad Khan to stake claims of forming the next government.
The Bihar governor has invited him to form the next government, IANS reported.
Earlier in the day, Nitish Kumar was unanimously elected the leader of the NDA legislative party at a meeting held in the Central Hall of the Bihar Legislative Assembly.
Nitish Kumar will take oath as Chief Minister on Thursday, November 20, at a grand ceremony to be held at Gandhi Maidan in Patna.
Before the NDA meeting, Nitish Kumar was also elected leader at the JD(U) legislative party meeting.
In the BJP legislative party meeting, Samrat Chaudhary was elected leader and Vijay Kumar Sinha deputy leader.
Both leaders are set to take the oath as ministers and will serve as Deputy Chief Ministers in the new government.
According to sources, around 20 ministers are likely to be sworn in along with Nitish Kumar.
The swearing-in ceremony will begin at 1 pm, with Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administering the oath at 1.30 pm.
The event is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, several Union Ministers, Chief Ministers of various BJP-ruled states and other dignitaries.
In anticipation of the VVIP movement, elaborate security and traffic arrangements have been put in place from Patna Airport to Gandhi Maidan.
Nitish Kumar will take the oath in Gandhi Maidan after 10 years.
The last ceremony at this historic venue was held in 2015. Nitish Kumar had earlier taken the oath at Gandhi Maidan in 2005 and 2010 as well.
In 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the ceremony was shifted to the Raj Bhavan.