Nitish has joined communal forces for his personal politics: Rahul Gandhi

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday charged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with throwing rules to the wind to opt to join communal forces to pursue his brand of "personal" politics.

Gandhi said a mandate was given to Kumar to counter anti-communal forces in Bihar, but he has joined hands with the latter for his personal politics.

"A mandate was given to Nitish ji for the anti-communal fight, but now he has joined hands with them for his personal politics. If I tell you the truth, we knew about this planning for the past three to four months. For one's self interest, people can do anything, there is no credibility, no rules," he added.

Rahul's criticism came shortly after Kumar took oath of office as chief minister. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Modi also took oath as Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister.

Bihar Governor Kesrinath Tripathi administered oath to Kumar and Modi at Raj Bhavan.

This is the sixth time that Kumar has taken oath as Bihar chief minister.

With this, the political uncertainty in Bihar that loomed in on Wednesday after Kumar's resignation has ended for the time being.

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has cancelled its protest march to Raj Bhavan to oppose Kumar's swearing-in ceremony due to prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973 empowers a magistrate to prohibit an assembly of more than four people in an area. According to sections 141-149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the maximum punishment for engaging in rioting is rigorous imprisonment for 3 years and/or fine.