Nitish Kumar, the chief of the Janata Dal-United (JDU), took his ninth oath as Bihar’s chief minister Wednesday, signalling a seismic shift in alliances. The former ‘Mahagathbandhan’ architect cut relations with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress, creating a partnership with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The swearing-in event at Raj Bhavan saw the formation of a new team, featuring important figures Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha, and others, laying the groundwork for Bihar’s political resurgence.
Samrat Choudhary, the BJP’s state president and recently appointed Deputy Chief Minister, is at the centre of this shift. Mr Choudhary has been a major figure in Bihar politics, crowned with a turban that he once promised to discard only once his party gets to power.
