Nitish, Perform Or Perish

Nitish Kumar is perhaps the luckiest politician to be sworn in as Chief Minister of Bihar for the tenth time. Yet to credit his return solely to luck would be unfair. It is his political astuteness, willingness to take risks, and unwavering focus on social engineering that have placed him once again at the helm of the state. When elections were announced, few expected him to be the next chief minister. He was projected as a spent force, even “senile” and indecisive. The BJP, his strongest ally, did little to reassure voters that he would lead the NDA if it returned to power. It even denied the JD(U) a larger share of seats to contest. The results, however, told a different story. The JD(U) won 85 seats—almost double its previous tally—with a strike rate comparable to the BJP’s. When the BJP had conceded the chief ministership to Nitish Kumar even when his party fared poorly in the past, it would have been untenable to deny him the post now, when the JD(U) stands nearly shoulder to shoulder with the BJP.

His victory is also a reaffirmation of the social coalition he has consolidated over decades: non-Yadav OBCs, EBCs, Dalits and, crucially, women. This election saw nine per cent more women voting than men, a testament to welfare schemes that reached the most vulnerable. For the first time, Nitish Kumar has parted with the Home portfolio, handing it to the BJP—an unmistakable sign of pragmatism and an acknowledgement of the political realities within the NDA. His nearly two-decade rule has undeniably improved Bihar’s roads and expanded electricity access to levels unimaginable earlier. But these achievements sit uneasily alongside Bihar’s stubborn position at the bottom on almost every social indicator—education, health, nutrition, and employment.

Unemployment remains acute, forcing millions to migrate in search of work. The traumatic exodus during the COVID-19 lockdown, when countless Biharis walked hundreds of kilometres from Maharashtra, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh, is still fresh in public memory. The irony is that Bihar possesses fertile land and immense agricultural potential, yet its economy remains trapped in stagnation: fragmented landholdings, minimal industrialisation, and a services sector limited largely to government jobs. It also produces one of the highest numbers of civil service aspirants, but it should aspire to create opportunities in many more fields. Nitish Kumar’s tenth term, then, cannot be celebrated merely as a feat of political longevity; its true measure will be whether he can shift Bihar’s trajectory away from welfare-dependent survival and toward sustainable, broad-based development. If he fails to address these fundamental challenges, completing ten terms will mean little. What will matter is not how long he ruled but what lasting change he delivered.