New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated Nitish Kumar for taking oath as the Bihar Chief Minister, calling him an “experienced administrator” and praising his track record of “good governance” in the state.

Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar on Thursday, with Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administering the oath of office and secrecy at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan.

Taking to X, PM Modi posted, “Congratulations to Shri Nitish Kumar Ji on taking oath as Bihar’s Chief Minister. He is an experienced administrator with a proven track record of good governance for many years. My best wishes to him for his tenure ahead.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived at Patna Airport around 11 a.m., flew directly to the venue by helicopter.

This is also the first time Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attended Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in ceremony, although Kumar has taken the oath five times since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014.

He has served under both the NDA and the Grand Alliance during this period. Today marks the first occasion on which PM Modi was present in Patna for his oath-taking.

Nitish Kumar took oath as Chief Minister for the 10th time at 11.30 a.m.

He first became Chief Minister in 2000, though his government lasted only seven days. Since returning to power in 2005, he has been sworn in nine consecutive times, reaching a historic tenth oath today.

Samrat Choudhary was sworn in immediately after Nitish Kumar. A victorious MLA from Tarapur, he has now taken charge as one of the Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar.

Vijay Sinha was sworn in next and has also assumed office as Deputy Chief Minister.

Several ministers were also administered the oath alongside Nitish Kumar, including Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Mangal Pandey, Dilip Jaiswal, Shravan Kumar, and Bijendra Yadav.

The Prime Minister congratulated all newly sworn-in ministers after the ceremony.

–IANS

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