Nitish Kumar Set to be Bihar CM For 7th Time: The Shrewd Socialist Remains Indispensable, This Time Thanks to BJP

Patna, November 10: Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar is set to be sworn in for a seventh term as Chief Minister of Bihar. Notably, the 69-year-old Nitish Kumar has never contested an assembly election. Nitish Kumar's JD(U) contested the 2020 Bihar assembly polls with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the grand alliance of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RD), Congress and Left, and registered a decisive victory. Nitish, along with the BJP, successfully fought the anti-incumbency that they were facing primarily because of his alleged ineffective handling of the COVID-19 situation in Bihar and of the return of migrant workers triggered by the pandemic and lockdown.

Nitish Kumar, who during early years as a politician, was associated with the likes of Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia, has come a long way from the shadow of, first, Lalu Prasad Yadav, George Fernandes in the Samata Party and then Sharad Yadav in the JD(U), which came into existence with the merger of the Sharad Yadav faction of the Janata Dal, the Lokshakti Party and the Samta Party. Except for the 2015 Bihar assembly elections, Nitish has been close with the BJP. Bihar Assembly Election Results 2020: NDA Overcomes Mahagathbandhan Challenge, Three Factors That Worked For BJP-JDU.

Nitish, a shrewd socialist, became the Chief Minister of Bihar for the first time in 2000. Though that government lasted seven days, he was in the making as an alternative of Lalu Prasad. In 2005, he became the Chief Minister of Bihar for the second time and completed his second. He got the post for the third time in 2010. In May 2014, he resigned as the Chief Minister after JD(U) fared poorly in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, winning just 2 seats against 20 seats in the previous election.

The JD(U) then picked Jitan Ram Manjhi for the chief ministerial post. Early 2015, when Nitish intended to return to his former post, Manjhi protested and refused to vacate the seat. However, eventually, he had to resign. Subsequently, Nitish was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar, marking his return for the fourth time in the state’s most coveted political office. Bihar Assembly Election Results 2020: NDA Gets Absolute Majority With 125 Seats, Mahagathbandhan Settles With 110 Seats.

In 2015, Nitish also played a big gamble of joining hands with his arch-rival Lalu Prasad Yadav. His JD(U), along with RJD and Congress, formed the Mahagathbandhan or grand alliance to counter the BJP. The grand alliance won the assembly election by a margin of 178 over the BJP and its allies, with RJD emerging as the largest party with 80 seats and JD(U) placed second with 71. The BJP fell to 53 seats from 91 in 2015.

Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Chief Minister on 20 November 2015 for a record fifth time. However, in 2017, differences emerged between the JD(U) and RJD over corruption charges against Tejashwi Yadav and Nitish Kumar quit the grand alliance and resigned as the Chief Minister. Consequently, the grand alliance-led government collapsed. Nitish once again joined hands with the BJP and formed a new government. He became the Chief Minister for the sixth time in July 2017.

Nitish, a Kurmi, an OBC caste with just 3 percent presence in the state, has been valuable for his saffron ally in Bihar. There was buzz that Nitish is now old and no longer has an appetite to script another electoral victory. Exit polls indicated anger against him among migrant workers. Chirag Paswan's LJP was seen as the biggest threat to Nitish. However, even as his party suffered a hit, the Nalanda man emerged triumphant against all odds and remains indispensable, this time, thanks to his ally, the BJP, who is now the majority partner in the Bihar NDA.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 11, 2020 10:59 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).