Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar on Sunday criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for appointing a non-tribal as the chief minister of Jharkhand, saying it will make the tribals in the state feel alienated.
The former Bihar chief minister said the BJP has started a bad precedent in Jharkhand,
"The tribals will start feeling alienated again in Jharkhand. After years of struggle, the tribals got their own state. For last 14 years there has been a tribal chief minister, now they have changed it," Kumar said.
BJP leader Raghubar Das was earlier in the day sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand, becoming the first non-tribal leader to rule the state.
Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed administered the oath of office and secrecy to Das at Ranchi's Birsa Munda Football Stadium.
Nilkanth Singh Munda, Chandreswar Prasad Singh, Louis Marandi (all of the BJP) and Chandraprakash Choudhary (AJSU) were also sworn-in as Cabinet ministers.
