Nitish Kumar, the president of Janata Dal (United) president, took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the fourth straight term on Monday after closely-fought Legislative Assembly elections in the state. The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda. BJP’s Bihar in-charge Devendra Fadnavis also participated in the event.
Nitish Kumar’s new deputies – BJP’s Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi were also sworn in on Monday. Renu Devi is the first woman deputy chief minister of the state. She served as a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet formed after the 2010 Bihar Assembly election. She was elected as the deputy leader of the Bihar BJP legislature party on Sunday.
A fourth-time MLA from the Bettiah seat in the Champaran region -- a BJP stronghold -- of Bihar, Renu Devi is known for being close to the RSS, like Tarkishore Prasad, and also to Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal. Interestingly, all three belong to the Vaishya community.
Tarkishore Prasad is an MLA from Katihar since 2005. This time, he has defeated Ram Prakash Mahato of RJD by around 10,000 votes. Tarkishore Prasad has an old association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. His family is originally from the Talkhua village of Saharsa district. He belongs to the Kalwar Vaishya society, which has the status of backward class in Bihar.
Meanwhile, the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) boycotted the swearing-in ceremony stating the mandate was against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). In a tweet, the RJD said: "The RJD boycotts swearing-in ceremony. The mandate for change is against the NDA. The mandate has been changed on the state’s directions. Ask the unemployed, farmers, contract workers and employed teachers of Bihar what is going on with them. The public is agitated by the fraud of the NDA. We are the public`s representatives and stand with them."
