Nitish Kumar, the 8th time Bihar CM in 22 years | A look at ‘sushasan babu’’s political journey as CM

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Patna, Aug 10: Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar will take oath as Bihars chief minister for the eighth time today, a day after ditching the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a grand alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and smaller parties.

Kumar who has been infamous for leaving one alliance for another has been accused by the BJP for having aspirations of becoming Prime Minister as the reason for breaking the alliance. The BJP said that it followed the dharma of the alliance and didn’t break it.

Despite ups and downs during his political career, Nitish – known as Bihar’s ‘Sushasan Babu’ (man of good governance) is all set to form a unique record as he’s expected to take oath as Chief Minister for the 8th time.

Following are the seven previous occasions when Nitish Kumar took oath as Chief Minister:

The 71-year-old, who has had a continuous run since November, 2005, except for the period in 2014-15 when Jitan Ram Manjhi kept the chair warm for him, is on course to becoming the longest serving Chief Minister of the state, surpassing the record of Shrikrishna Singh who held the top post since before Independence till his death in 1961.

First: March, 2000

Kumar was first sworn in as CM in 2000, for a term that lasted barely a week as he failed to muster a majority and returned as a minister at the Centre in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Second: November, 2005

Five years later, Kumar returned with the JD(U)-BJP alliance winning a majority. This was the only time when Kumar completed his full five-year term with the BJP as the junior partner.

Third: November, 2010

Kumar returned to power in 2010 when the coalition won a landslide victory in the assembly polls. The JDU won 115 seats, while ally BJP won 91 seats in the 243-member Assembly. In June 2013, however, the JDU parted ways with the BJP after Narendra Modi emerged as the main face of the saffron party.

Fourth: February, 2015

He stepped down in May, 2014, owning moral responsibility for the JD(U)s debacle in Lok Sabha polls, only to return in February, 2015 when a rebellious Manjhi was elbowed out.

Fifth: November, 2015

In November, 2015, the assembly polls were fought and won by the Grand Alliance which then comprised JD(U), Lalu Prasads RJD and Congress with Kumar back as the Chief Minister.

Sixth: July, 2017

He, however, abruptly exited the alliance in July, 2017, citing irreconcilable differences with the RJD and resigned as Chief Minister only to return in less than 24 hours armed with the support of the BJP.

Seventh: November, 2020

On Nov 16, 2020, Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister for the seventh time. In the 2020 polls, the NDA alliance (JDU, BJP, Hindustani Awam Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party) won 125 seats, thereby securing a slim majority in the 243-member Assembly. The RJD once again emerged as the single-largest party. While BJP won 74 seats, JDU plummeted to just 43 seats. During his seventh term as Chief Minister, Mr Kumar had two BJP deputies – Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi.