Nitish Kumar takes oath as Rajya Sabha MP

NEW DELHI: Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar on Friday took oath as a Rajya Sabha MP, months after being sworn in as Bihar chief minister for a record 10th term.Kumar’s move to the Upper House, which caught many by surprise when it was announced last month, paves the way for the BJP, a JD(U) ally, to have its first chief minister in Bihar. He resigned as a member of the state legislative council after being elected to the Rajya Sabha. However, there is no clarity on when he will step down as chief minister.According to senior JD(U) leader Shravan Kumar, constitutional provisions allow a person to continue as CM for up to six months despite being elected to the Rajya Sabha. The BJP had emerged as the largest party, followed by the JD(U), in last November’s Bihar assembly polls, as their ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a landslide victory. Kumar first became chief minister in March 2000 for what turned out to be an eight-day term. He returned for a second term in November 2005 and has held the post since then — despite repeatedly changing alignments — except between May 2014 and February 2015, when Jitan Ram Manjhi, then in the JD(U), held the position.