Nitish Kumar to take oath as CM at 2pm, Tejashwi Yadav to be his Deputy

Following the split from the BJP on Tuesday and the announcement of a new "mahagathbandhan" which includes Tejashwi Yadav and other Opposition parties, Nitish Kumar will take the oath of office as Chief Minister of Bihar on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

"Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) of seven parties, one Independent will work closely," Nitish Kumar said after his second meeting with the Governor on Tuesday. In the first, he announced his resignation as Chief Minister of the Janata Dal United or JDU and the BJP coalition government. Less than an hour later, he returned to the Governor with Tejashwi Yadav and other opposition figures to request that they be given the opportunity to form the next coalition government using their combined political clout.

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Tejashwi Yadav, 32, conducted a parallel meeting with his MLAs while his party was in session, and they decided they would back Nitish Kumar in a new administration. Along with Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav will take the oath of office as deputy chief minister. At the news conference with Nitish Kumar, he declared, "The BJP betrays all its friends and intimidates others."

Though it was a tumultuous alliance as it became evident that Narendra Modi would succeed Amit Shah as the BJP's top leader, Nitish Kumar was partnered with the party up until 2013. He failed to connect with the BJP, and in 2015, he and Lalu Yadav and the Congress formed the government. Tejashwi Yadav is the son of legendary politician Lalu Yadav from Bihar. Nitish Kumar abruptly left the three-party coalition in 2017, citing his inability to put up with Tejashwi Yadav's ravenous corruption as a minister.

Also read: Nitish Kumar resigns as Bihar CM, breaks alliance with BJP