Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Bihar chief minister for a record tenth time, alongside 26 ministers in a cabinet where the maximum strength can be 36. The grand swearing-in took place at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda and chief ministers of 11 NDA-ruled states, including Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath and Andhra Pradesh’s N Chandrababu Naidu.

Modi capped the swearing-in by bowing to the audience thrice and waving his gamchha. The victory, with NDA’s 202 seats, marks Nitish’s second-best show – after the 206 seats during the 2010 polls.

Senior BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Choudhary retained their position as deputy CMs. The JD(U) retained its veterans Bijendra Pr

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