New Delhi: The ongoing political turmoil in Bihar took a dramatic turn as Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have extended their support to Nitish Kumar to form government.

According to sources, Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the RJD, would serve as the deputy chief minister and the new cabinet will also include members of the Congress and RJD in addition to the JD(U). The new government “retaining their independent identity” is likely to receive outside support from the Left parties.

Nitish Kumar will take the oath of office as Chief Minister of Bihar tomorrow. Tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Raj Bhavan, the chief minister and deputy chief minister will be sworn in.

Nitish Kumar, who was once considered a potential challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, broke with the BJP-led NDA coalition on Tuesday to stake out his position as leader of the competing “Mahagathbandhan” (Grand Alliance), which is vying to become Bihar’s eighth chief minister.

A list of 164 MLAs has been submitted to Governor Phagu Chauhan, who will decide when the oath-taking can take place, according to Kumar, 71, who earlier in the day announced his resignation as chief minister leading the NDA coalition.

The state Assembly’s effective strength is 242 and its magic number is 122.

Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav will be sworn in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, respectively, at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in Raj Bhavan.

In addition to upending political calculations, the action is significant because it weakens the BJP’s influence in a crucial state in the Hindi-speaking heartland, where the majority of its legislators are recruited, ahead of the 2024 general elections, which analysts predict the party will otherwise win.