Patna: Known as the "Chanakya of Bihar Politics", Bihar chief minister and JD (U) president Nitish Kumar on Thursday made another major political move by announcing to move to Rajya Sabha, a decision that will witness state`s political landscape undergoing significant shifts in its contours.
It will be the first time for Nitish to enter the upper house of the parliament in his nearly five-decade long political career.
Nitish has proved his political acumen time and again by demonstrating his exceptional political maneuvering, social engineering skills, and his ability to remain at the focus of state's politics despite shifting alliance dynamics.
About Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
Born on March 1, 1951, in Bihar's Bakhtiyarpur to Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh and Parmeshwari Devi, he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from Bihar College of Engineering (now NIT Patna) in 1972. A year later, he married Manju Kumari Sinha, a teacher, and the couple had one son, Nishant Kumar. His wife died in 2007.
The 75-year old Nitish entered politics during the JP Movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan. He was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in 1974 and during the Emergency in 1975.
He joined the Janata Party and unsuccessfully contested his first assembly elections in 1977 from Harnaut. He suffered another defeat in the 1980 assembly election. His first victory came in 1985 when he won Harnaut seat on a Lok Dal ticket. In 1989, he was elected to the ninth Lok Sabha and served as Union agriculture minister. He was re-elected in 1991.
In 1990, Nitish Kumar played an instrumental role in making Lalu Yadav the chief minister. Their alliance, however, witnessed cracks in 1994, and he resigned from the Janata Dal. Nitish Kumar co-founded the Samata Party with George Fernandes in 1994.
He served as a Cabinet Minister at the Centre under the NDA government, handling Railways (1998-1999, 2001-2004), Surface Transport (1998-1999), and Agriculture (1999-2000). He resigned as Railway Minister in August 1999 following the Gaisal train disaster.
On March 3, 2000, he was sworn in as Bihar chief minister for his maiden term. It lasted only seven days after Nitish, faced with the lack of numbers, resigned.
In 2003, the Samata Party merged into Janata Dal (United). In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Nitish was elected from Nalanda but lost from Barh.
His first big win in Bihar came a decade after he parted ways with Lalu when the JD(U)-BJP coalition defeated RJD in 2005. Nitish was sworn in as the chief minister for his first full term.
He was re-elected in 2010 with a landslide victory, and the JDU-BJP coalition juggernaut reduced RJD to 22 seats.
In 2013, he snapped ties with the BJP over Narendra Modi's prime ministerial candidature for the 2014 Lok Sabha election and formed the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) with RJD and Congress in 2015. He led the Grand Alliance to victory in the 2015 state polls.
In 2017, he ended the alliance with RJD over corruption allegations against deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, rejoined the NDA, and resumed office the same day.
In the 2020 polls, Nitish Kumar-led NDA won to return as chief minister. Then, in August 2022, he resigned, left NDA, and rejoined the Mahagathbandhan, forming a new coalition government.
On January 28, 2024, he resigned from Mahagathbandhan, rejoined the NDA, and was sworn in as Chief Minister for the ninth time. In the 2025 assembly election, Nitish`s JD (U) won 85 seats against BJP`s 89, as the NDA`s seat tally swelled to 202 with LJP (RV) -19, HAM- 5 and RLM -4 as Nitish took oath as CM for the 10th time last November.
