Aided by BJP, Nitish keeps Bihar; JD-U chief to take oath as CM for 7th time in 15 years
With a slender majority in Bihar, Nitish Kumar is now headed to become the 23rd Chief Minister of the state. He will take oath for the seventh time in 15 years. The victory is largely credited to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, which has shown itself in the final numbers as well, earning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the "big brother" tag for the first time in Bihar. With 74 seats on its side, the saffron party has dwarfed the Janata Dal United (JDU) which could barely accumulate 43 seats. In totality, the NDA won 125 seats, well ahead of the magic figure of 122.
Nevertheless, Kumar coming back to power for the seventh time, beating a Himalayan anti-incumbency, is a statement in itself. While Naveen Patnaik has been the chief minister of Odisha for five terms, Shivraj Singh Chouhan four times in Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim's Pawan Kumar Chamling (1994-2019) has been the longest serving chief minister in the country bypassing Jyoti Basu's reign in Bhopal (1977 to 2000).
Kumar, then Samata Party leader, was sworn in as Bihar CM first on March 3, 2000. Consecutively, he became chief minister in 2005 and 2010.
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In 2015, he took oath as Bihar CM twice. In 2017, he joined hands with old ally BJP to take oath as CM for the sixth time.
The BJP-JDU alliance won 125 seats in the 243-member assembly while the Mahagathbandhan secured 110 seats, paving the way for a fourth successive term for Nitish Kumar in office but with diminished clout following a debilitating slide in the number of JD(U) lawmakers that came down to 43 from 71 in 2015. Kumar was then a partner in the Grand Alliance which included Lalu Prasad's RJD and the Congress.
The RJD, whose campaigns were held by Lalu Prasad Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav, emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats. The BJP finished second with 74 seats. Despite the slump in JDU numbers and the BJP emerging as the "big brother", Nitish Kumar is set to take over the reins of the government.
Much of Kumar's plight can be blamed on the damage Chirag Paswan's LJP inflicted on his JD(U). Down in the dumps with just one MLA, the party spoiled the JD(U)'s chances in at least 30 seats.
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