Nitish Kumar has taken oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the eighth time on August 10, 2022, while Tejashwi Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal has become the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal has broken its ties with ruling alliance party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reportedly for BJP not giving respect and conspiring against Kumar’s party.
Nitish Kumar, born on 1 March 1951 in Bakhtiarpur, Bihar is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Bihar College of Engineering (present-day NIT Patna). Before entering into politics, he was associated with Bihar State Electricity Board.
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Let’s take a look at Nitish Kumar’s political career:
- Nitish Kumar first entered politics representing Janata Dal in 1985. In 1994, Nitish Kumar sided with George Fernandes and founded the Samata Party.
- In 1996 served as a Union Minister in Atal Vihari Bajpaye government, with his party joining National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and he became a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet.
- In March 2000, Nitish Kumar for the first time had served as the Chief Minister of the state for little over seven days, but he resigned after taking the oath as the NDA and allies had 151 seats. Rashtriya Janata Dal on the other hand had 159, so both fell short of the required 163 mark.
- In 2003, the Samata Party merged with Janata Dal of Sharad Yadav, while its alliance continued with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the same year, the Janata Dal (United) was formed.
- His first five years as chief minister are recalled with admiration even by critics, marked by vast improvements in restoration of law and order in a state that made headlines for massacres by rivalling militias and kidnappings for ransom.
- In 2005, Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister of Bihar by forming a coalition government with NDA who won majority of seats in Bihar Legislative Assembly election.
- In 2010, Nitish’s party came to power along with BJP as ally and he again became the Chief Minister.
- In 2013, Kumar ended ties with the BJP after 13 years and joined with Rashtriya Janata Dal and Indian National Congress known as the Mahagathbandhan
- In 2014, Kumar resigned as Chief Minister due to severe party losses, but later in 2015 again took charge as CM
- In 2017, the state assembly polls were won by the Grand Alliance of the JD(U), Congress and RJD. But the alliance collapsed in just two years over Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav’s name that came up in a money laundering case. Nitish ended the alliance and resigned as the chief minister and was back in office in less than 24 hours after getting support from the BJP.
- In August 2022, Kumar left the NDA and again joined the Mahagathbandhan, a coalition of RJD and Indian National Congress.