Patna/New Delhi, July 27 (IANS): Nitish Kumar was on Thursday sworn in as the Bihar Chief Minister at the head of a JD-U-BJP government, a day after he dumped the RJD and the Congress, but faced murmurs of protest from senior leaders including Sharad Yadav. The Kerala unit of his party snapped ties with him.
Nitish Kumar also came under attack from former allies who called his decision a "betrayal" of the 2015 mandate.
Nitish Kumar, who took the oath of office and secrecy with his former Deputy Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP, has to prove his majority in the Assembly on Friday.He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi at a hurriedly-organised event at the Raj Bhavan as JD-U supporters raised slogans of "Nitish Kumar Zindabad".
The new JD-U-BJP combine including some other parties has submitted to the Governor a list of 132 MLAs, 10 more than the half-way mark of 122 in the 243 member Assembly.
They include 71 of JD-U, BJP's 53, RLSP's and LJP's two each, HAM's one and three independents. The RJD has 80 MLAs and its ally Congress has 27. The CPI-ML, bitterly opposed to the BJP, has three members.
"My commitment is for the people of Bihar and for the development of Bihar. The decision is in Bihar's interest and for its development," Nitish Kumar said after taking oath.
The Chief Minister pledged to take the state to new heights of development.
It was not a smooth affair though as two JD-U MPs, M.P. Veerendra Kumar, head of the party's Kerala unit, and Ali Anwar (Bihar) rebelled against his decision to embrace the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The unhappy leaders met at Sharad Yadav's residence in Delhi and said the veteran was upset with Nitish Kumar. The meeting was also attended by JD-U General Secretary Arun Srivastava and spokesperson Javed Raza.
Veerendra Kumar said he was ready to quit the Rajya Sabha to pursue his fight against "fascist forces".
