Patna, Nov. 21 -- Janata Dal United (JD-U) convener Nitish Kumar on Thursday was sworn in as the chief minister of Bihar for a record 10th time at the Gandhi Maidan. Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Nitish. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda, union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Anupriya Patel, Giriraj Singh, Nityanand Rai were among those present at the oath-taking ceremony. "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," Modi wrote on X. Modi, who had told voters during the campaign that he would "return for the swearing-in of an NDA government", delighted the crowd when he lifted his trademark 'gamchha' and swirled it above his head, a gesture that has become a signature of the 75-year-old leader. Leaders of several NDA-ruled states, including TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, and BJP satraps Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra), Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) and Rekha Gupta (Delhi) had flown down to witness the ceremony. After Nitish, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, who are tipped to retain their position as Deputy CMs, and 24 other ministers - eight from JD-U, 14 from the BJP, two from LJP-R and one each from HAM-S and RLM- took oath in batches of six. Nine other cabinet berths will be filled later on. With a tally of 89, the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the Bihar assembly and, predictably, it had the lion's share of 14 ministers in the newly sworn-in cabinet. Besides Choudhary and Sinha, other BJP leaders who took oath included Mangal Pandey, Nitin Nabin and Surendra Prasad Mehta, all of whom were ministers in the previous government. State BJP president Dilip Jaiswal, who had resigned from the cabinet nearly two years ago in keeping with the party's 'one person, one post' policy, was back in the council of ministers. Another minister who is back after a break is Narayan Prasad. He had lost his post in 2022 when the CM abruptly quit the NDA and was not re-inducted upon the JD(U) supremo's return to the BJP-led coalition last year. The party has also brought in fresh faces like Shreyasi Singh, a professional shooter of international fame, who has been elected from Jamui for a second consecutive term. Other BJP leaders who will enjoy a ministerial berth for the first time are Arun Shankar Prasad, Dr Pramod Kumar, Lakhendra Kumar Raushan, Sanjay Singh Tiger and Rama Nishad. Another notable inclusion is Ram Kripal Yadav, former Union minister who lost the Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat last year but was elected from Danapur in the assembly polls. From the JD(U) quota, all the inductees were ministers in the previous government. They include Zama Khan, the lone Muslim MLA in the NDA, which won 202 seats of the 243-strong assembly.Other inductees included Bijendra Yadav, Shrawon Kumar, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Leshi Singh and Madan Sahni, Sunil Kumar and Ashok Choudhary. The NDA also comprises smaller allies LJPRV, HAM and RLM, led by Union ministers Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha, respectively. From HAM, Santosh Suman, Manjhi's son and party president, was re-inducted. LJPRV ministers include Sanjay Kumar Paswan of Bakhri, an associate of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, and Sanjay Kumar Singh, who defeated Tej Pratap Yadav in Mahua. Although the RLM has won four seats, the MLAs, including Kushwaha's wife Snehlata, who won the Sasaram seat, the party is represented in the cabinet by founding president's son Deepak Prakash, who is at present not a member of either house in the state legislature. Besides the CM, Dilip Jaiswal, Dr Pramod Kumar, Ashok Choudhary and Santosh Suman are members of the state legislative council. The number of ministers from the BJP is 14, while the JD(U)'s tally in the cabinet is eight. The maximum number of ministers permissible for the state cabinet, including the CM, is 36....