Soon after Nitish Kumar came back as Bihar’s Chief Minister for the seventh time in 20 years, he said that it was the public’s decision to bring the NDA back to power and form a government in the state, news agency ANI reported.

“Based on the public’s decision, NDA has once again formed the government in the state. We will work together and serve the people,” ANI quoted Nitish Kumar as saying. Along with Kumar, BJP’s Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, too, were sworn-in as the two deputy chief ministers of Bihar.

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Sushil Modi, who was Kumar’s second in his last term, was snubbed and wasn’t elected as his deputy. Refusing to indulge in the decision, Kumar said, “It is the decision of the BJP to not field Sushil Modi as the Deputy Chief Minister. They should be asked about this.”

Echoing each other, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and congratulated Kumar on taking oath as Bihar’s CM.

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“I also congratulate all those who took oath as Ministers in the Bihar Government. The NDA family will work together for the progress of Bihar. I assure all possible support from the Centre for the welfare of Bihar,” PM Modi tweeted.

Also Read | Four-time MLA, BJP’s Tarkishore Prasad takes over as one of the two deputy CMs of Bihar

The 69-year-old, who has had a continuous run since November, 2005, except for the period in 2014-15 when Jitan Ram Manjhi defeated him, is on course to becoming the longest-serving Chief Minister of the state, surpassing the record of Shrikrishna Singh who held the top post since before Independence till his death in 1961.

Kumar was first sworn in as CM in 2000, for a term that lasted barely a week as he failed to muster a majority and returned as a minister at the Centre in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

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Five years later, he returned with the JD(U)-BJP alliance winning a majority and upon completion of his tenure returned in 2010 when the coalition won a landslide victory in the assembly polls.