Nitish sworn in as Bihar CM, Lalu's two sons as ministers

Patna, Nov 20: Nitish Kumar today took oath as Bihar Chief Minister along with 28 ministers, including RJD chief Lalu Prasad's two sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap, as the grand alliance government of RJD-JD(U)-Congress was sworn in at a mega ceremony attended by several top leaders from non-BJP parties.

Besides Nitish, 12 members each from RJD and JD(U) and four from Congress were administered oath as ministers by Governor Ram Nath Kovind.

Speculation is rife that first time MLA Tejaswi, who was the second person to be sworn in after Nitish at the event held at Gandhi Maidan, will be made Deputy Chief Minister.

Nitish took oath as the chief minister for the fifth time. Portfolios of the ministers are likely to be allocated soon.

A galaxy of leaders including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a number of Congress Chief Ministers were present at the swearing in ceremony of the new Bihar government.

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who was deputed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was also present. CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja also attended the event.

Former JD(U) state President Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Shrawan Kumar and Jay Kumar Singh, all members of the outgoing cabinet also took oath besides former MP Maheshwar Hazari, Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma, Santosh Nirala and Khurshid alias Firoz Ahmad.

New members in the cabinet from JD(U)-- Shailesh Kumar, Kumari Manju Varma, Madan Sahni and Kapildeo Kamat also took oath.

Hazari, a cousin of Ram Vilas Paswan had defeated the LJP chief's nephew Prince Raj from Kalyanpur assembly seat. In Lok Sabha elections earlier, he had defeated Paswan's brother Ram Chandra Paswan.

From RJD quota besides Lalu's sons, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Abdul Gafoor, Vijay Prakash, Chandrika Rai, Alok Kumar Mehta, Ram Vichar Rai, Sheo Chander Ram, Muneshwar Chaudhary, Chandrashekhjar and Anita Devi took oath.

Anita, the lone woman minister from RJD defeated senior BJP leader Rameshwar Chourasia in Nokha assembly segment. From Congress, party chief Ashok Choudhary, Madan Mohan Jha, Abdul Jalil Mastan and Awdesh Kumar Singh were sworn in.

RJD had won 80 seats in the Bihar poll followed by JD(U) 71 and Congress 27 totalling 178 in the 243-member Legislative Assembly. As per constitutional provision of cabinet quota being fixed at 15 per cent of the House strength, Nitish Kumar could have a maximum of 36 members, including himself, in the ministry.

At an historic function here attended by a galaxy of top political leaders of the country and watched by a huge crowd, Kumar was administered the oath of office by Governor Ram Nath Kovind.

All eyes were on Tejaswi and Tej Pratap Yadav, the two sons of RJD President Lalu Prasad, who took oath at number two and three positions, signalling the family's importance in the alliance government.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar and a host of chief ministers, were present for the function at the sprawling venue in the heart of the city.

Congress Vice President Gandhi who, too, attended the event, could reach the venue only at the fag end of the ceremony due to late arrival from the national capital.

Allies of BJP in the NDA, Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), too, were represented at Nitish's swearing-in by, respectively, Maharashtra ministers Ram Das Kadam and Subhash Desai and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal.

With the function virtually serving as a stage for showcasing a united picture of anti-BJP parties, along with chief ministers Banerjee and Kejriwal were present Virbhadra Singh, Oommen Chandy, Tarun Gogoi and Siddaramiah.

While the presence of so many prominent leaders of various anti-BJP parties may not result in the formation of an alliance immediately, it could give a psychological boost to the opposition against NDA ahead of the crucial winter session of Parliament starting later this month.

Naidu sat beside RJD President Lalu Prasad and was seen talking to him from time to time.

Responding to a personal invitation by Nitish, who had himself invited the dignitaries over the phone, leaders of parties like Congress, NCP, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, DMK, SAD, CPI(M), CPI, National Conference, National Lok Dal, INLD, AGP besides JD(U) and RJD attended the mega event.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, DMK leaders TR Balu and MK Stalin and National Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh, too, were seen at the function.

Although Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the function, SP MP Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, who is also the son-in-law of Lalu Prasad, was there at Gandhi Maidan.

The event provided a rare opportunity for lensmen to photograph leaders who otherwise are often at loggerheads in the political arena.

Thus Banerjee and CPI(M)'s Yechury were present on the same dais, as were Kejriwal and ex-Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit along with Assam chief minister Gogoi and AGP leader and ex-chief minister of the northeastern state Prafulla Mahanta.

The occasion also provided a rare picture of Gandhi shaking hands with and later hugging RJD chief Prasad amidst cheers by the crowd.

Gandhi sat in the first row marked for VVIPs. Next to him was Deve Gowda followed by Prasad, Venkaiah Naidu and Sharad Yadav. While walking to his seat on the dais, he hugged Sheila Dixit and shook hands with some others.

Bonhomie was seen all around with leaders shaking hands with and hugging Kumar and Prasad.

Nitish's son Nishant and elder brother Satish were present on the occasion as was Prasad's entire family, including wife Rabri Devi and seven daughters along with sons-in-law, who sat in the VVIP area and were seen cheering Tejaswi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav.