Jyoti Basu of West Bengal and Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim may have served longer as Chief Ministers, but with the NDA returning to power in Bihar in 2020, Nitish Kumar will take oath for the 7th time in 15 years. Defying a strong anti-incumbency in the state, the Janata Dal-United leader's return to the helm -- al beit riding on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity -- got most exit polls wrong, it was a matter of touch and go as the Grand Alliance sailing on a Tejashwi Yadav wave nearly tilted the NDA boat. However, unlike previous cases, Kumar's 'big brother' tag is gone where a powerful and macho BJP with 74 seats has dwarfed JDU, which could barely accumulate 43 seats.

After the final result of the Election Commission, the NDA won 125 seats. The magic figure is 122. Though the BJP is well ahead of the JD-U in terms of performance, the party's top brass made it clear well ahead of the election that Nitish Kumar will be the Chief Minister, regardless of who wins more seats. Senior JD-U leader KC Tyagi says, Kumar will once again be the chief minister of the state. "I express my deep gratitude to the people of Bihar for showing their faith to this alliance."