Bihar Politics LIVE: RJD likely to get lion's share in new cabinet; Nitish Kumar may retain Home - Latest news

Earlier, senior BJP leader and former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi had claimed that the party, with which Kumar broke his alliance the previous day, had received "no invitation".

Leaders of the BJP, which is the second largest party in the assembly with 77 MLAs, were conspicuous by their absence at the swearing in ceremony that took place inside the Raj Bhavan.

Kumar was sworn in besides RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, who is likely to be designated as his deputy. Sources in the seven-party ruling coalition said that a cabinet expansion would take place later.

Talking to reporters shortly after he was administered the oath of office by Governor Phagu Chauhan, Kumar also rubbished the BJP's claim that the new government will not last its full term, and said his former ally "will be back where they were after the 2015 assembly polls".

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was on Wednesday sworn in for the eighth time, asserted that the NDA government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to "worry" about its prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar chief minister. 

RJD's Tejashwi Yadav takes oath as deputy chief minister of Bihar.

Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM for 8th time, after he announced a new "grand alliance" with Tejashwi Yadav's RJD & other opposition parties

Patna | RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav takes oath as Deputy CM of Bihar

Nitish Kumar becomes Bihar CM the 8th time! 

RJD likely to get lion's share in new Bihar cabinet, Nitish Kumar may retain Home

JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, who is set to be sworn in as Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time on Wednesday, is likely to retain the all-important Home portfolio, while the RJD may get most of the departments that were previously with the BJP, a highly-placed source said. He said an in-principle agreement has been reached about the composition of the new cabinet, which is likely to have 35 members or more, drawn from Kumar's JD(U), the RJD and the Congress

We will like to see how new Bihar govt functions with Tejashwi as de facto CM; it will fall before next polls: BJP's Sushil Modi.

Nitish insulted Prime Minister Modi and people of Bihar who had voted for NDA: BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

The in-principle decision to hand over BJP's portfolios to RJD implies that it will get some key ones like health and road construction department, the source added.

The RJD has prepared a list of names and shared it with party supremo Lalu Prasad for approval. While Tejashwi Yadav is certain to become the deputy CM, it is not yet decided which portfolios he will keep.

Kumar himself will be keeping Home, which helps him have a control over the police. He is likely to also keep the departments related to welfare of extremely backward castes and minorities, which form his core constituency.

The JD(U) is likely to reinstate as many of its ministers as possible from the previous cabinet, which was disbanded on Tuesday night vide a notification issued by the chief secretary.

A broad understanding is said to have been reached among the alliance partners on the names, barring the Congress, which needs the same to be approved by the party high command in Delhi.

The JD(U) is likely to have 13 ministers, the RJD has settled for 16. The Congress will be given four berths, while former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM will have one member in the cabinet, the source said.

There is a likelihood of only Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav taking oath in the afternoon, since Governor Phagu Chauhan has pressing engagements and needs to travel, while remaining members will sworn in a cabinet expansion exercise later.

According to broader contours of the power sharing formula, the RJD will have the largest number of ministers, in recognition of the fact that it has a higher number of MLAs.

Kumar, who is being commended by opposition parties for joining the anti-BJP camp, also had a telephonic talk with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the political situation.

He said an in-principle agreement has been reached about the composition of the new cabinet, which is likely to have 35 members or more, drawn from Kumar's JD(U), the RJD and the Congress.

JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, who is set to be sworn in as Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time on Wednesday, is likely to retain the all-important Home portfolio, while the RJD may get most of the departments that were previously with the BJP, a highly-placed source said.