Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM for record 10th time; Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Sinha return as deputy CMs
The NDA government has inducted nine new faces into the Cabinet, including LJP (RV)’s Sanjay Kumar Singh, who defeated Lalu Prasad’s son Tej Pratap Yadav in the Mahua Assembly constituency. Of the 26 ministers, Kumar’s Cabinet features only one Muslim member.
Janata Dal-United President Nitish Kumar on November 20, 2025 took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for a record tenth time in a grand ceremony at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan.
Senior BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha will be Nitish’s Deputy, as per the arrangement in the previous government where there were two deputies from the saffron camp.
Overall 26 ministers took oath, out of which 14 are from BJP, 8 from JD(U), 2 from LJP (RV) and one each from HAM (S) and RLM.
The NDA government has inducted nine new faces into the Cabinet, including LJP (RV)’s Sanjay Kumar Singh, who defeated Lalu Prasad’s son Tej Pratap Yadav in the Mahua Assembly constituency. Of the 26 ministers, Kumar’s Cabinet features only one Muslim member.
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan administered the oath of office and secrecy to them.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J.P. Nadda and several other top leaders of the NDA. The event was also attended by the Chief Ministers of several NDA ruled States.
Kumar (74), who is a member of the legislative council (MLC), did not contest the Assembly elections. He is among the 10 longest-serving CMs in the country and has been in power for 19 years.
In the recently-held polls, the NDA stormed back to power in the eastern State, winning 202 seats in the 243-member Assembly, with BJP bagging 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5 and RLM 4.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by major leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and JP Nadda. Other chief ministers also attended the event, including Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio.
The mother of all surprises was the induction of Deepak Prakash, son of former Union Minister and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president Upendra Kushwah. It was widely speculated that Kushwaha’s wife Snehlata Kushwaha, who won from Sasaram Assembly seat, would be sworn in as a minister.
Notably, Deepak is neither a member of the Legislative Assembly nor Legislative Council. With father a Rajya Sabha member, mother an MLA, and Deepak’s entry, the dynasty charge levelled against the Opposition leaders does not hold good any more.
Here is a list of cabinet ministers who were sworn in today at the ceremony
- Samrat Choudhary (BJP)
- Vijay Kumar Sinha (BJP)
- Dilip Jaiswal (BJP)
- Mangal Pandey (BJP)
- Vijay Kumar Choudhary (JDU)
- Bijendra Prasad Yadav (JDU)
- Shrowan Kumar (JDU)
- Ashok Chaudhary (JDU)
- Leshi Singh (JDU)
- Madan Sahni (JDU)
- Sunil Kumar (JDU)
- Ram Kripal Yadav (BJP)
- Santosh Suman (BJP)
- Nitin Nabin (BJP)
- Mohammad Zama Khan (JDU)
- Sanjay Singh Tiger (BJP)
- Arun Shankar Prasad (BJP)
- Surendra Mehta (BJP)
- Narayan Prasad (BJP)
- Rama Nishad (BJP)
- Lakhendra Kumar Roshan (BJP)
- Pramod Kumar (BJP)
- Sanjay Kumar Singh LJP(RV)
- Deepak Prakash (BJP)
- Sanjay Kumar LJP(RV)
- Shreyasi Singh (BJP)
A three-day session of the newly constituted assembly will start from November 26, in which the Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be elected and new members will take oath, PTI reported.
The NDA stormed back to power in Bihar, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly constituency, with the BJP bagging 89 seats, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM(S) 5 and RLM with 4 seats.
Double-engine govt
Union Home Minister Amit Shah extended greetings to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his deputies and all Ministers on taking oath, and said this double-engine government will work with even more energy to realise the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a message posted on ‘X’, Mr. Shah expressed gratitude to the people of Bihar for expressing their faith in “the development and good governance” carried out by the NDA for the past 20 years.
“Heartfelt best wishes to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ji, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary ji, Vijay Sinha ji, and all ministers of the Council of Ministers on taking the oath,” he said.
“This double-engine government will work with even more energy to realise the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s ‘Developed Bihar’ and to reach development works to all sections of society,” Mr. Shah said.
Major promises made by Nitish Kumar-led NDA before Bihar elections
This Nitish Kumar Cabinet will be closely watch for the fulfilment of its pre-poll promises.
The chief among the NDA’s promises was the retention of manpower in the state by generating one crore jobs in five years.
Nitish Kumar, who also enjoys a massive base of women supporters, will be held accountable for his promise of making 1 crore Lakhpati Didis and making select women entrepreneurs crorepatis.
The Bihari youth, who now has to migrate outside the state for employment opportunities, will be looking forward to the opening of mega-skill centres in each district, as promised by the NDA.
The NDA also promised a Rs 5,000-crore education sector overhaul.
Business and industries are hoping for the fulfilment of the pre-election promise of seven expressways and 3,600 km of railway tracks well before the completion of Kumar’s 10th term.
The people of Bihar would also want the Metro railway in four metr0 cities, as assured by Nitish Kumar.
In the health and wellness sector, NDA promised Bihar a Medicity with world-class facilities and a medical college in every district.
