Rabri Devi, an illiterate mother of nine, was sworn in by the Bihar Governor, Sundar Singh Bhandari, in the state capital Patna.

Her reinstatement came less than a month after her administration was removed from office by the coalition government of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Federal rule

Direct rule was imposed on Bihar in the aftermath of inter-caste violence.

The imposition of federal rule was approved by the lower house of parliament where the government has a slender majority.

But the central government was forced to revoke its decision on Monday after it realised that there was no chance of the dismissal being endorsed by the opposition-dominated upper house of parliament.

Government 'undermined'

Most of India's newspapers appeared to agree that the climbdown was a humiliating defeat for the ruling coalition, dominated by the prime minister's Hindu nationalist BJP party.

"At the end of this episode, undeniably (the government's) political and moral authority to govern has been sharply undermined," The Hindu daily said in an editorial.

"The loss of political face for the ruling establishment on account of Bihar is ... one aspect of the sordid drama," it added.