The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) would not be a part of the Narendra Modi government. This was announced by Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar on Thursday when the new cabinet is being sworn in along with the new prime minister.

Nitish Kumar said his party will not be a part of the new government as it did not want “symbolic representation”.

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“They (the BJP) said that they want to give one cabinet rank to every ally. Then we said that we will discuss it with the party members and then only we can say anything over this symbolic representation.

“I spoke to my party leaders and people and they were not agreeing to one berth and the symbolic representation. And this we communicated to them (BJP). They also called up in the morning and then we again conveyed our decision,” said Nitish Kumar while addressing the media in New Delhi.

He, however, maintained that the JD-U will remain part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). JD-U is in power in Bihar along with the BJP. Kumar also reached the Rashtrapati Bhawan to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of the Modi cabinet.

Nitish Kumar, on Wednesday, reached Delhi and directly went to meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah. After meeting Shah, Kumar also held a meeting with his party leaders in the evening.

On Thursday evening, Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister before a packed gathering in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, starting his second term as the head of the government of the country.

Modi was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Some top leaders from the BJP and NDA allies also took oath as Ministers in the new Cabinet. Among them were Rajnath Singh, BJP chief Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and former foreign secretary S Jaishankar.

At least one member from each of the parties in alliance with NDA was included in the ministry. The Janata Dal (United), however, opted out.

(With agency inputs)