Nitish Kumar, who took oath as Chief Minister of Bihar for a record ninth time on Sunday, said that there is now no question of leaving the NDA-fold.

“I was with them (NDA) earlier, too. We went on different paths, but now we are together and will remain so… I came back to where I was (NDA), and now there is no question of going anywhere else,” Kumar told reporters after taking oath as the CM.

“You people know that I believe in work and the same will continue. I will keep doing work for the overall development of the state,” he added. The CM said a total of eight people took oath on Sunday as ministers, and names of the remaining ones will be decided soon.

BJP leaders – Samrat Choudhary and former Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha – will be the deputy chief ministers, Kumar said, adding leaders of three parties have been accommodated. “The cabinet will be expanded soon,” he said.

Commenting on the collapse of INDIA alliance, Kumar said, “They (INDIA bloc leaders) were not doing anything. Nothing happened after the first meeting of INDIA bloc that took place in Patna last year. Now, I have come back to the same place, where I was earlier (with NDA)”.

“I express my gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of all the people of Bihar…and also on my own behalf…for his good wishes. The new government (NDA) has been formed in Bihar and we will keep serving people of the state, which is our basic objective. With the NDA government at the Centre and state, development work will gain momentum,” Kumar said in a post on X.