As many as 218 of 243 newly-elected legislators, including most of the ministers, took oath on Monday, the opening day of the inaugural session of Bihar Assembly after the National Democratic Alliance came to power.
Prominent among them were Minister for Road Construction Department and state NDA convenor Nand Kishore Yadav, Human Resource Development Minister Brishen Patel, Health Minister Chandra Mohan Rai, Excise and Prohibition Minister Sudha Srivastava, Energy Minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav and Urban Development Minister Ashiwini Choubey.
Rashtriya Janata Dal legislature party leader Rabri Devi, who is set to become leader of the opposition in the House, was among other important leaders from the opposition who took oath.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ramashray Prasad Singh and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh are not members of either house of the state legislature.
Conspicuous by their absence during oath-taking were ministers Narendra Narain Yadav and Manindra Kumar Mandal.
Earlier, the newly-elected MLAs were seen exchanging pleasantries when they entered the house.
Just before the Protem Speaker Bhola Singh assumed the chair to take up slated oath-taking formalities, Nitish Kumar, accompanied by Modi, walked to the opposition benches, where former chief minister Rabri Devi and several members of her erstwhile government, including Ramchandra Purvey and Ramai Ram, were seated and greeted them.
A smiling Rabri stood in her seat and congratulated Nitish on the victory but did not miss the opportunity to target her husband's bitter rival Modi, who, as a petitioner in the multi-crore fodder scam case, was instrumental in sending her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav to jail.
"Aapne Rajasthani ko apna Upa Mukhyamantri bana diya hai (you have made a Rajasthani your deputy)," she sarcastically remarked.
While Minister of State for Sugar Cane Development Nitish Mishra took the oath in Maithili with his father and former chief minister Dr Jagannath Mishra watching the proceeding from the VIP gallery, Urban Development Minister Ashwini Choubey took affirmation in Sanskrit.
The lensmen and TV crews grabbed the opportunity to capture the scenes both inside and outside the house when Nitish went to meet Rabri and the Protem Speaker Bhola Singh in Speaker's chamber to present him with a bouquet.
