New Delhi, Nov 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated Nitish Kumar for taking oath as the Bihar Chief Minister, calling him an “experienced administrator” and praising his track record of “good governance” in the state.

Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar on Thursday, with Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administering the oath of office and secrecy at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan.

Taking to X, PM Modi posted, “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.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived at Patna Airport around 11 a.m., flew directly to the venue by helicopter.

This is also the first time Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attended Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in ceremony, although Kumar has taken the oath five times since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014.

He has served under both the NDA and the Grand Alliance during this period. Today marks the first occasion on which PM Modi was present in Patna for his oath-taking.

Nitish Kumar took oath as Chief Minister for the 10th time at 11.30 a.m.

He first became Chief Minister in 2000, though his government lasted only seven days. Since returning to power in 2005, he has been sworn in nine consecutive times, reaching a historic tenth oath today.

Samrat Choudhary was sworn in immediately after Nitish Kumar. A victorious MLA from Tarapur, he has now taken charge as one of the Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar.

Vijay Sinha was sworn in next and has also assumed office as Deputy Chief Minister.

Several ministers were also administered the oath alongside Nitish Kumar, including Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Mangal Pandey, Dilip Jaiswal, Shravan Kumar, and Bijendra Yadav.

The Prime Minister congratulated all newly sworn-in ministers after the ceremony.

New Delhi, Nov 20: Senior Congress leader Udit Raj on Thursday took aim at Maharashtra Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Abu Azmi over his remarks on the former’s party, stating that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav should “discipline” such leaders.

He also compared the SP’s performance when it went solo in the polls and when it contested the elections with the Congress, stating that Azmi’s “senseless” remarks will only “strengthen the NDA”.

Azmi has said that the “arrogance” of Congress is “drowning” the party and that it no longer has a “stable vote bank”.

Reacting to this, Udit Raj told Media, “I would urge Akhilesh Yadav to discipline such people. What arrogance? There is no arrogance. We are fighting the ground-level battle, making sacrifices. Another point is that in 2019, the Samajwadi Party won 6 seats, and when it contested the election with the Congress, it won 37 seats this time. So who benefited? Who gains strength by making such senseless statements? It only strengthens the NDA. I would tell Akhilesh Yadav to keep such people under control.”

Attacking the Congress, Azmi had alleged that the party always assumes the position of dominance in any alliance and claimed that in the past, it had even walked out of partnerships just ahead of final seat-sharing decisions.

“Akhilesh Yadav formed an alliance very carefully, and we did well… However, Congress is facing the consequences of its own actions. Look at their condition… Congress’ arrogance is pulling it down. What does it do in the name of contesting for minorities? The party no longer has a stable vote bank. Despite being a national party, its role in the alliance is also not satisfactory,” Azmi told reporters.

Reiterating his decision to contest without any coalition, Azmi said that earlier alliances brought only “betrayal”.

He added that while the SP wants all secular forces to stand together to prevent vote-splitting, larger parties “only know how to take and do not know how to give”.

Hyderabad, Nov 20: Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma has given his nod to prosecute former minister and BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao in the Formula E race case.

The nod comes two months after the state government sent the file to the Governor seeking his permission to prosecute the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader in the case relating to alleged misuse of Rs 54.88 crore public funds.

This will pave the way for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to file the charge sheet.

It was in September that the ACB submitted its report and, through the state government, sought the Governor’s sanction to prosecute K.T. Rama Rao (KTR), senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and others.

However, the prosecution of Arvind Kumar requires permission from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Central government. It was immediately not clear if the ACB would file the charge sheet against all the accused after receiving permission from DoPT or file an initial charge sheet against KTR.

After nine months of probe into the alleged irregularities in hosting the Formula E race in Hyderabad during the previous BRS regime, the ACB had submitted its report to the government.

He has been accused of receiving Rs 44 crore in the form of an electoral bond from a sponsorship company as a quid pro quo for granting it rights to organise the race.

The ACB in December last year booked a case against KTR, former Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD), Arvind Kumar and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority’s (HMDA) former Chief Engineer B.L.N. Reddy for alleged Rs 54.88 crore irregularities in the Formula E deal.

After the Governor gave his permission for the probe, the FIR was registered on a complaint by Principal Secretary, MA&UD, M. Dana Kishore, who stated that foreign remittances were made without prior approvals of the relevant regulatory authorities, which resulted in additional tax burden to HMDA to the tune of Rs 8.06 crore.

The complainant also alleged that the payment was made while the Model Code of Conduct was in effect for the elections to the state Assembly without any prior approval of the Election Commission. The FIR was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as under the Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

The ACB questioned KTR, Arvind Kumar and B.L.N. Reddy multiple times in the case.

The former minister, who was questioned by the ACB four times, dismissed the Formula E case as a “bogus case”.

KTR said he had made every effort to bring the Formula E race to Hyderabad. He admitted that it was he who had directed the release of Rs 46 crore from the government, but clarified that the funds had been deposited directly into the designated account. “Not a single rupee has been misused. Every rupee is accounted for. Where then is the corruption?” he asked.

The BRS leader asserted that even if prosecution proceeded or charge sheets were filed, nothing would stand.