Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha. Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan administered the oath to Nitish Kumar in the Parliament at a brief ceremony. 

The RS Chairman later welcomed him as a member of the Upper House and also on his return in Parliament. The swearing-in as Rajya Sabha member paves the way for the Janata Dal (United) supremo to step down as Bihar’s Chief Minister, marking the end of his two-decade rule in the eastern state.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha J P Nadda, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Samrat Choudhary.

The ruling NDA is now likely to elect a new Chief Minister of the state on April 14. Kumar has already resigned as a member of the State Legislative Council on March 30 after he was elected to Rajya Sabha. He was elected to the Upper House of Parliament on March 16, and he had to quit as an MLC in the 14-day period after his election.