Nitish Kumar to take oath as Bihar chief minister on Sunday

PATNA: JD(U) strongman and former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will take oath on Sunday as the chief minister of the state. This follows the high-voltage political drama that ended with chief minister and JD(U) rebel Jitan Ram Manjhi tendered his resignation to the governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Friday. The governor accepted his resignation and invited Nitish Kumar to form the next government in the state. Earlier on Friday, Nitish Kumar promised good governance once he takes over as chief minister and apologized for his decision to quit last year after his party's rout in the Lok Sabha elections. "I want to assure the people of Bihar that if I get an opportunity again I will serve them in the same spirit I did for eight and a half year. Good governance was and will remain my priority, " he said while interacting with reporters. "I also apologize for my decision to quit. I will never take an emotional decision again. Now I am ready to lead from the front," Kumar added. Flanked by leaders of RJD, Congress who are supporting him and his own JD(U), Kumar said he had already staked claim to form the government on February 8 and next day after meeting the governor in person. "We will wait for his (governor's) decision till tonight," he said. "I am in no hurry to form government," he said in an apparent rebuttal to governor's earlier comment he seemed to be in a hurry to become chief minister. He, however, did not disclose if RJD, Congress, CPI and the independent MLA supporting him would be part of his government. "Let the invitation from the governor come first. These questions will be relevant during formation of the government," a buoyant Kumar said. Rejecting Manjhi's allegations against him, the former Bihar chief minister said he worked at BJP's behest and resigned because all "tricks" to break JD(U) failed. "What BJP has done is a cruel joke with democracy. The horse (Manjhi) refused to run before the race. He had called for Budget session today (Friday) but ran away without facing the house. They left no attempt to split our party but our MLAs stood together like a rock. "All immoral works were being done on the prodding of BJP," he said. (With inputs from PTI)