36 Facts About Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar was born on 1 March 1951 and is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000.

Nitish Kumar was member of the Samata Party until 2005 and Janata Dal from 1989 to 1994.

Nitish Kumar first entered politics as a member of the Janata Dal, becoming an MLA in 1985.

In 2003 his party merged into the Janata Dal, and Nitish Kumar became its leader.

In 2005, the NDA won a majority in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, and Nitish Kumar became chief minister heading a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In June 2013, Nitish Kumar broke with the BJP after Narendra Modi was named as their candidate for prime minister, and formed the Mahagathbandhan, a coalition with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Indian National Congress and joined in United Progressive Alliance.

However, he attempted to return as chief minister in February 2015, sparking a political crisis that eventually saw Manjhi resign and Nitish Kumar become chief minister again.

In 2017, Nitish Kumar broke with the RJD over corruption allegations and returned to the NDA, leading another coalition with the BJP; at the 2020 state elections his government was narrowly reelected.

In January 2024, Nitish Kumar left the Mahagathbandhan and rejoined the NDA.

Nitish Kumar was born on 1 March 1951 in Bakhtiarpur, Bihar.

Nitish Kumar's father, Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh, was an ayurvedic practitioner; his mother Parmeshwari Devi was from Nepal.

Nitish Kumar has earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from Bihar College of Engineering in 1972.

Nitish Kumar married Manju Kumari Sinha on 22 February 1973 and the couple has one son.

Nitish Kumar participated in Jayaprakash Narayan's movement between 1974 and 1977 and joined the Janata party headed by Satyendra Narain Sinha.

Nitish Kumar fought and first time won his election to the state assembly from Harnaut in 1985.

Nitish Kumar's popularity reached to the national level when he was awarded the post of Minister of Railways in the United Front government in 1996 and was made the leader of Lok Sabha.

Nitish Kumar's outreach was witnessed in the western Uttar Pradesh too, when his followers organised an impressive rally at the behest of a newly floated organisation called Dalit Panthers.

Nitish Kumar was awarded the post of Union Railway minister but the rising aspirations of the extremely backward castes unleashed by him resulted in JD and BJP led coalition to defeat his party in 2005 Bihar Assembly elections.

The push to the speedy trial under Nitish Kumar's government brought results within a short period of time, and in 2006 itself, a total of 6,839 offenders were convicted.

Nitish Kumar's government took step to empower the District Magistrate to apprehend the officials taking bribe in order to reduce corruption.

The National Democratic Alliance, of which Nitish Kumar's party was a part, was relying upon the support of a section of upper caste.

In 2005, a less known leader from the Kahar caste, Chandeshwar Prasad grabbed his attention and Nitish Kumar promoted him by making the head of Extremely Backward Caste wing of his party.

In March 2000, Nitish Kumar was elected Chief Minister of Bihar for the first time at the behest of the Vajpayee Government in the centre, as Samata Party member.

In 2010, Nitish Kumar's party swept back to power along with its then allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and he again became Chief Minister.

On 17 May 2014, Nitish Kumar submitted his resignation to the Governor of Bihar, a day after his party fared poorly in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, winning just 2 seats against 20 seats in the previous election.

Nitish Kumar served a fourth term for a brief period of time in 2015.

Nitish Kumar again became Chief Minister on 22 February 2015, on the backdrop of upcoming 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, considered to be his toughest election to date.

Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Chief Minister on 20 November 2015 for a record fifth time and Tejashwi Yadav became Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.

Nitish Kumar's campaign was managed by Prashant Kishor's Indian Political Action Committee who were hired to manage the campaign for JD.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal refused to do so, and therefore Nitish Kumar resigned on 26 July 2017, thus ending the Grand Alliance.

On 8 December 2020, his deputy Sushil Nitish Kumar Modi was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar to fill the vacant seat after the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan.

So, Nitish Kumar resigned on 16 August 2020 and returned as Chief Minister with his new deputies Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi.

On 9 August 2022, Nitish Kumar resigned as chief minister and removed his party from the NDA, announcing that his party had rejoined the Mahagathbandhan, and would form a governing coalition with the RJD and INC.

On 9 August 2022, Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP and resigned as chief minister and revoked his party from the NDA, announcing that his party had rejoined the Mahagathbandhan, comprising RJD, INC, CPI and other independents, and would form a governing coalition.

Meanwhile, women's organizations condemned the remarks, and the former Chief Minister of Bihar, Rabri Devi, defended Nitish Kumar, suggesting the comments were a slip of the tongue.

On 28 January 2024, Nitish Kumar resigned as chief minister and rejoined NDA.