Nitish Kumar: Know the political journey of 7-time CM Nitish Kumar, who broke the alliance with BJP
India
oi-Love Gaur
Patna, August 08: Once Nitish Kumar broke his old relationship with BJP by showing his aggressive attitude. There is no doubt that Nitish Kumar is a seasoned player of politics, only then after assuming the chair of Bihar CM for 7 times, now he is ready for the 8th time. He has resigned from the post of CM after making an official announcement of his separation from the BJP in the meeting of his MLAs on Tuesday. Nitish was constantly angry with the BJP on many issues, after which the situation reached such a point that he changed his path. Now once again the government of Mahagathbandhan is going to be formed in Bihar. In such a situation, know his political journey so far from engineer Nitish Kumar to CM Nitish Kumar…
Politics came after becoming an engineer
Born on 1 March 1951 in Bakhtiyarpur, Bihar, Nitish Kumar’s father Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh was an Ayurvedic doctor as well as a freedom fighter. Nitish Kumar’s mother Parmeshwari Devi was a housewife. He took a degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Patna and then got a job in Bihar State Electricity Board. Although he did not like the job, he chose politics.
Became MLA for the first time in 1985 after losing twice
Nitish Kumar was greatly influenced by Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Karpoori Thakur and George Fernandes. In 1974, he was associated with the JP movement. He started his political career in the year 1977, although after seeing defeat twice, he reached the assembly for the first time in 1985 as an MLA from Harnaut.
Became MP for 6 times, played the responsibility of Minister of Railways and Agriculture
In 1989, Nitish Kumar became active in Delhi politics and was made General Secretary of Janata Dal. In the same year, he contested the Lok Sabha elections and became a Janata Dal MP from Barh seat. Then again in 1991 and after that in 1996 and 1998 also became MP continuously. After which he became the Railway Minister in the Vajpayee cabinet in 1998. But he resigned from his post after the horrific Kishanganj train accident. Then in the year 1999, Nitish Kumar was elected as the MP for the 5th time, after which he took the responsibility of the Agriculture Minister at the Center, as well as the additional charge of the Railways in 2001. In 2004, Nitish Kumar became an MP for the sixth and last time.
Became CM for a few days in 2000, had to resign
While in the NDA, Nitish Kumar was elected the leader of the NDA in Bihar, after which he became the Chief Minister for the first time in the year 2000, although his tenure was only for a few days. NDA with 151 MLAs was unable to prove majority in the then 324-member house. Nitish Kumar had to resign before he could prove the numbers. After this, Nitish Kumar once again became the Chief Minister in the year 2005 and his tenure lasted from November 2005 to November 2010.
Broke ties with BJP in 2013, contested Lok Sabha elections alone
After this, in 2010 also he took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar, but during this time his car running with BJP derailed before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. In June 2013, he severed his old ties with the BJP after it became clear that Narendra Modi of the NDA would be the prime ministerial candidate. Then taking responsibility for the crushing defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he resigned from the post of Chief Minister and handed over the command of Bihar to Jitan Ram Manjhi. After a year i.e. in 2015, Nitish Kumar again became the Chief Minister of Bihar.
Made a grand alliance and then became CM
In February 2015, Nitish Kumar’s party JDU formed an alliance with RJD under the leadership of Lalu Prasad Yadav and contested the elections. Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister of the Grand Alliance with the support of RJD, Congress and Left parties. After running the government for 20 months, in July 2017, he left the Grand Alliance and joined the BJP and Nitish Kumar again became the CM of Bihar.
Contested election with BJP, then broke alliance
Then contested elections with BJP in 2020 and again took oath as CM. In this election, JDU got only 43 seats, while BJP won 74 seats. Even after getting more seats, the BJP made Nitish Kumar the CM, but after getting angry with the BJP on many issues, now (August 2022) once again breaking the relationship with the BJP, Nitish Kumar joined the Mahagathbandhan and again Bihar’s We are going to take command in our own hands.
Story first published: Tuesday, August 9, 2022, 17:01 [IST]
