Nitish Kumar on Thursday took the oath as Bihar chief minister for a record tenth time, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi stole the show with his signature gamchha wave that seemed to underline the BJP’s growing dominance in the Mandal heartland.

As Modi brandished a red-and-white checked Bihari scarf from the dais at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, the freshly sworn-in Nitish stood beside him with folded hands.

The sanctity of the official ceremony seemed somewhat breached, with governor Arif Mohammad Khan smiling away as the Prime Minister twirled the gamchha in the air and the crowd roared.

Modi had publicly flourished a gamchha also on the day the NDA won Bihar, doing so in celebration at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.

“Bihar ke logon ne garda uda diya (The people of Bihar have truly blown everyone away),” he had told ecstatic party cadres.

While the swearing-in was expected to double as a show of unity and strength for the NDA as a whole, the dominance of the BJP’s top leadership on the Gandhi Maidan stage was unmistakable.

Modi, the cynosure, was flanked by Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, party president J.P. Nadda and several BJP chief ministers, including Yogi Adityanath, the line-up underscoring the party’s tightening grip over Bihar politics.

Alongside Nitish, BJP leaders Samrat Chaudhary — the party’s OBC face in Bihar — and Vijay Sinha were sworn in as deputy chief ministers.

Twenty-four other ministers, too, took the oath of office. The BJP secured the lion’s share of ministry berths — 14, including the two deputy chief ministers — while the JDU got 9, including Nitish.

The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) got two berths while junior partners HAMS and RLM got one each.

The BJP, the largest party with 89 seats, has for now decided to grant the 74-year-old Nitish another term as chief minister. Speculation, however, persists that the party might not wait till the 2030 elections to stake claim to the post.

Despite his stature, Nitish is widely perceived as being in decline, and the JDU lacks a natural successor to him.

Unlike his long-time socialist contemporary Lalu Prasad, Nitish has avoided grooming his son Nishant for a political role, although Kumar Jr did make occasional appearances at JDU events during the campaign.

On Thursday, Nishant was seen in the VIP enclosure at Gandhi Maidan but remained evasive about a political debut.

He thanked the people of Bihar for giving his “Papa” a record mandate. Yet, asked by a television channel about speculation that he might take up politics, he merely said: “Chhodiye yeh sab (Let’s drop the subject).”

In the run-up to the elections, residents of the chief minister’s native village, Kalyan Bigha in Nalanda district,had staged a dharna demanding Nishant be brought into active politics. The dharna coincided with a visit to the village by Nitish.

“Nitishji met us but did not make any commitment about pushing his son into politics,” a resident, Jagdeo Singh, said.

JDU insiders said that if Nitish was not too keen on seeing his son in politics, Nishant was himself even more reluctant.

The chief minister’s advanced age and perceived lapses in mental alertness have in recent months prompted questions about how longhe can continue to helm the government.

During the swearing-in ceremony, too, the seasoned politician appeared to falter while reading out from a written text.

In a post on X, Modi congratulated Nitish: “Congratulations to Nitish Kumar Ji… 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.”

Tejashwi Yadav, the Mahagathbandhan’s candidate for chief minister, who had been silent since the poll drubbing, too congratulated Nitish.

“Heartfelt congratulations to the esteemed Shri Nitish Kumarji…. I hope that the new government will live up to the hopes and expectations of the people, fulfil its promises and declarations, and bring positive and qualitative changes to the lives of the people of Bihar,” he said on X.