JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar was chosen leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar during a meeting of newly-elected MLAs of the alliance partners on Wednesday, state minister Shrawon Kumar said.

The proposal for the leader of NDA was moved by JD(U)’s Vijay Choudhary and seconded by BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha. MLAs of the LJP(RV), HAM and RLM also seconded the proposal, Shrawon Kumar said.

Kumar will take oath as the chief minister for a record 10th time at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Kumar was elected as leader of the JD (U)’s legislature party by the newly elected MLAs of the party. Talking to PTI, Shrawon Kumar said, “Nitish Kumar has been chosen as JD(U)’s legislature party leader by the newly elected MLAs.” The meeting was held at ‘Samvad’ located at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, and attended by all newly elected MLAs and 22 Legislative Council members of the party, he said.

“A proposal for Nitish Kumar as the JD(U) legislature party leader was moved by party leaders Vijay Choudhary and Umesh Kushwaha and was seconded by senior JD(U) leader Bijendra Yadav. Later, the proposal was also seconded by JD(U) working national president Sanjay Jha and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’,” Shrawon Kumar said.

The NDA stormed back to power in Bihar, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, with BJP bagging 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5 and RLM 4.