Chirag Paswan tells oppn to "introspect", not blame "vote theft and EVMs"

Patna (Bihar) [India], November 21 : Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Friday slammed the opposition Mahagathbandhan for blaming "vote theft and EVMs" for their defeat in the recently held Bihar assembly elections instead of "introspecting".
Speaking to reporters here, he said that the mindset of Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has led to their "downfall".
"After every defeat, you need to conduct an honest introspection. We, too, have gone through defeats. We honestly introspected on where we went wrong? So many days have passed since then, but these people (opposition) haven't introspected even now. These people are still blaming vote theft and EVMs. These people just keep making excuses. If these people don't stop making excuses, they will never come to power. Present your views with humility. The downfall of Congress and RJD has been caused by their mindset," said Paswan, chief of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
Earlier, Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder and chief Prashant Kishor on Thursday held a silent introspection (Maun Vrat) at Bhitiharwa Gandhi Ashram in Bihar after not being able to open an account in the seats tally in the Assembly elections.
The development came as Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Chief Minister of the State for a historic 10th time in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other NDA leaders.
Meanwhile, in a post on X, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav congratulated the Chief Minister and the newly inducted ministers, expressing hope that the government would uphold the expectations of the people.
"Heartfelt congratulations to the esteemed Shri Nitish Kumar Ji on taking the oath of office as the Chief Minister of Bihar. Heartfelt best wishes to all the ministers of the Bihar government who took the oath as members of the Council of Ministers. I hope that the new government will live up to the hopes and expectations of responsible people, fulfil its promises and declarations, and bring positive and qualitative changes in the lives of the people of Bihar," Tejashwi posted on X.
A day after the oath-taking ceremony, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday allocated cabinet portfolios to the newly elected National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MLAs who swore-in as ministers in the cabinet, giving up the Home department to the ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Samrat Choudhary, the Deputy Chief Minister and a BJP leader, has been given charge of the Home department. Kumar will not handle the Home department for the first time since he came to power in 2005.
Kumar has retained the General Administration Department (GAD), Cabinet Secretariat, Vigilance, Election, and other departments not allocated to any minister.
The cabinet allocation followed the oath-taking ceremony, where Nitish Kumar returned as Bihar CM for the 10th time, with 26 NDA MLAs sworn in as ministers. Of the 26 elected MLAs, eight are from JD(U), two from Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and one each from Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and HAMS.
12 new faces have been inducted in the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar cabinet, including sons of Kushwaha and Manjhi, along with Shreyasi Singh.
LJP(RV) leader Sanjay Kumar Paswan, a first-time MLA, will oversee the Sugarcane Industry department, while LJP(RV)'s Sanjay Kumar Singh has been allocated the Public Health Engineering department.
RLM's Deepak Prakash will take charge of the Panchayati Raj department.
14 leaders from the BJP have been allocated portfolios in the newly formed government in Bihar, given its emergence as the single largest party after winning 89 assembly seats.