Jitan Ram Manjhi took over as the Chief Minister of Bihar on Tuesday, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Nitish Kumar.
Mr. Kumar, who owned up responsibility for the Janata Dal (United)’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha election, said he would not “remote-control” the new government.
“Mr. Manjhi will work independently. He will continue with the work that had been initiated and implement the party’s programmes,” Mr. Kumar said.
Governor D.Y. Patil administered the oath of office to Mr. Manjhi, who became the third Dalit leader to assume the high post in the State. Mr. Manjhi belongs to the most downtrodden section called Mushahars. Along with him, 17 Cabinet Ministers were sworn in, 15 of them from the previous dispensation of Mr. Kumar.
Two Independent MLAs, who have extended support to the JD(U), have been accommodated in the new Cabinet. Mr. Manjhi will seek a vote of confidence in the Assembly on May 23. His position has been cushioned by letters of support from the Congress (four) and the CPI (one) submitted to the Governor.
Also two BJP MLAs — Vijay Kumar Mishra and Rana Gangeshwar Singh — have resigned their seats to join the JD(U).
The effective strength of the 243-member Assembly now is 237 with six vacancies. The JD(U) can count on the support of 124 legislators, exceeding the halfway mark of 119.
With 21 members, the RJD could be expected to provide additional cushion to the Manjhi government.
Mr. Kumar has said he will act as a coordinator between the government and the party.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Mr. Kumar said the party believed in the politics of lies and hypocrisy. “They kept saying that they had 50 JD(U) MLAs in their pocket. I gave them 48 hours, but they failed to provide an alternative government.”