Nitish Kumar Breaks Allies AS Takes Oath Again after Resigning

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Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the sixth time on Thursday morning, 14 hours after he resigned from that position, ending his two-year-old alliance with Lalu Yadav and the Congress. He is back with the BJP, whose Sushil Modi was also sworn in; he gets his old post of Deputy Chief Minister back.

 Other new ministers will take oath after Nitish Kumar has won a trust vote to be held tomorrow. "Our decision is in Bihar's interest, for its development," Mr Kumar said. Late last night, Nitish Kumar met Bihar Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi a second time - he had met him to resign earlier in the evening - and staked claim to form government with the support of BJP and smaller parties.

 "We have submitted a letter with support of 132 legislators," Sushil Modi told reporters after they met the Governor. Nitish Kumar's shock move to quit as Chief Minister of Bihar on Wednesday came hours after Lalu Yadav said Tejashwi would not resign as the No 2 in the Bihar government despite being caught in a corruption scandal.

 Responding to the move this morning, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said, "The problem with Indian politics is that people will do anything for selfish gains,""Nitishji's step against corruption is a courageous one. BJP wants development and wants to help bring stability in Bihar," said union minister JP Nadda of the BJP, in Patna to oversee the new political developments.

Last month, Nitish Kumar abandoned his allies and other parties to side with the BJP in the election for President of India. He said the opposition which has formed an 18-party league was "in a mess" thanks largely to the Congress. He also broke ranks with the opposition to first support PM Modi's sudden ban of high-value notes and then the launch of the Goods and Services Tax or GST. 

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