Patna: Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Nitish Kumar will today take oath as Bihar's Chief Minister for the fifth time.
The swearing-in ceremony, to be held at the historic Gandhi Maidan at 2pm, will draw tens of thousands of Nitish and RJD leader Lalu Prasad supporters besides nine CMs, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and leaders of several other political parties.
The 9 CMs are: Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Tarun Gogoi (Assam), PK Chamling (Sikkim), O Ibobi Singh (Manipur), Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh), Virbhadra Singh (Himachal Pradesh), Akhilesh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) and S Siddaramaiah (Karnataka).
Other political veterans would include CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, INLD's Abhay Chautala, DMK's MK Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.
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Lalu and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav will be the main guests at the event.
Also expected to attend the event are BR Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar and reputed Supreme court lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who along with Mamata Banerjee and Kejriwal repeatedly urged voters in Bihar to defeat the BJP.
The guest list for today's event also includes the names of few former CMs. They are: Omar Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir), Sheila Dikshit (Delhi), Bhupinder Hooda (Haryana), Shankarsinh Vaghela (Gujarat), Babulal Marandi and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand) and Ajit Jogi (Chhattisgarh).
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Nitish had personally telephoned and invited the Prime Minister but the latter had expressed his inability to attend the event because of some prior engagements. The Prime Minister has deputed Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Rajiv Pratap Rudy for the event.
Friday's gathering would be the first major show of anti-BJP unity since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in May 2014.
JD(U) state president Vashisht Narain Singh told the media that it was the first time such a large number of top politicians would attend the oath taking of Nitish Kumar.
"Such a thing has never happened. It is the beginning of opposition unity in the country," he said.
Tejaswi Yadav likely to get Deputy CM post
According to a JD(U) leader, Nitish will take oath at the head of a 36-member Council of Ministers. There will be 16 RJD ministers, 15 from the JD-U and five from the Congress in the government.
Meanwhile, there are reports that Lalu's younger son Tejaswi Yadav, will be sworn-in as the Deputy CM. Speculations are also rife that Misa, Lalu's eldest daughter, is in the race for the choice of Deputy CM post.
Lalu's eldest son, Tej Pratap, is also expected to get a plum post.
Both Tej Pratap and Tejashwi are first-time members of the state assembly. Misa is not a legislator but she can enter the Legislative Council on the seat vacated by Lalu's trusted lieutenant Bhola Yadav, now an MLA.
The Grand Alliance of Nitish Kumar and including the RJD and Congress swept 178 of the 243 assembly seats, leaving 53 to the BJP and five to its three allies in an election outcome that Lalu Prasad said would have major political repercussion.
The RJD is the single largest party in the house with 80 seats followed by the JD-U (71) and the Congress (27 seats).
Nitish becomes CM for the 5th time
This would be the fifth time that Nitish would take oath as Bihar CM. Nitish's first stint was in 2000 when he headed a government for only 8 days.
He stormed back to power in November 2005 and again in 2010.
In February 2015, he took oath for the high office for the fourth time after Jitan Ram Manjhi was removed from the chair.
Tight security at Gandhi Maidan
The historic Gandhi Maidan in the heart of Patna is ready for the swearing-in ceremony.
The state police have made elaborate arrangements at the venue, which is likely to receive over 50 VVIPs and nearly 1.5 lakh people.
Forty CCTV cameras have been put up. The venue will be guarded by about 2,000 policemen including 30 deputy superintendents of police.
The traffic police had yesterday issued an advisory that no heavy vehicle will be allowed to pass through Patna after Thursday midnight. Also traffic routes have been diverted with police deployment from the airport to Gandhi Maidan.
