Nitish Kumar is the current and the 22nd Chief Minister of Bihar. He is associated with Janata Dal (United) party. He is the second longest-serving CM of Bihar. He is associated with Janata Dal (United) party and has also served as a minister in the Union Government of India. Let us have a look at his early life, education, political career and more.
Nitish Kumar: Birth, Family, and Education
Nitish Kumar was born on 1 March 1951 in Bakhtiarpur, Bihar to Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh (Father) and Parmeshwari Devi (Mother). His father was an ayurvedic practitioner. Nitish Kumar 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.
Nitish Kumar: Political Career
In his early years, Nitish Kumar was associated with Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, S. N. Sinha, Karpuri Thakur and V. P. Singh. During 1974 to 1977, he participated in Jayaprakash Narayan’s movement and joined the Janata Party led by Satyendra Narain Sinha.
He briefly served as the Union Minister for Railways, Minister for Surface Transport and the Minister for Agriculture. After the Gaisal train crash (2 August 1999), he resigned as the Union Minister of Railways. During his tenure as the Union Minister for Railways, he brought in widespread reforms including internal ticket booking facility (2002) and tatkal scheme for instant booking of tickets.
Nitish Kumar contested from two constituencies (Nalanda and Barh) in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. He lost from his traditional constituency, Barh but won from Nalanda.
In March 2000, for the first time, he was elected as the Chief Minister of Bihar. In November 2010, he became the Chief Minister of Bihar for the second time. However, on May 17, 2014, he resigned from the Chief Ministerial post after his party performed poorly in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and took the moral responsibility of the party’s performance. He was succeeded by Jitan Ram Manjhi of Janata Dal (United).
In 2015, he was again elected as the Chief Minister of Bihar. When corruption charges levelled against Tejashwi Yadav (Deputy CM of Bihar), Nitish Kumar asked him to resign from the cabinet, to which RJD denied. Following the denial, Nitish Kumar resigned from the Chief Ministerial post on July 26, 2017, ending the Mahagathbandhan and joined principal opposition, the NDA. He again became the Chief Minister of Bihar and serves to date on this post.
Period
Positions held
1985-89
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly, from Harnaut
1986-87
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Committee on Petitions
1987-88
President of Yuva Lok Dal (Bihar)
1987-89
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Committee on Public Undertakings
1989
Secretary-General of Janata Dal (Bihar)
1989
Elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from Barh
1989-1990
Member of the House Committee
April 1990-November 1990
Union Minister of State, Agriculture and Co-operation
1991
Re-elected to the 10th Lok Sabha
1991-93
General-Secretary of Janata Dal and Deputy Leader of Janata Dal in Parliament
17 December 1991 – 10 May 1996
Member of the Railway Convention Committee
8 April 1993 – 10 May 1996
Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture
1996
Re-elected to the 11th Lok Sabha. Member of the Committee on Estimates, Member of the General Purposes Committee and Member of the Joint Committee on the Constitution (Eighty-first Amendment Bill, 1996)
1996-98
Member of the Committee on Defence
1998
Re-elected to the 12th Lok Sabha
19 March 1998 – 5 August 1999
Union Minister of Railways
14 April 1998 – 5 August 1999
Union Minister of Surface Transport (additional charge)
1999
Re-elected to the 13th Lok Sabha
13 October 1999 – 22 November 1999
Union Minister of Surface Transport
22 November 1999 – 3 March 2000
Union Minister of Agriculture
3 March 2000 – 10 March 2000
Chief Minister of Bihar
27 May 2000 – 20 March 2001
Union Minister of Agriculture
20 March 2001 – 21 July 2001
Union Minister of Agriculture (additional charge of Railways)
22 July 2001 – 21 May 2004
Union Minister of Railways
2004
Re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha, from Nalanda. Member of the Committee on Coal & Steel, Member of the General Purposes Committee, Member of the Committee of Privileges and the Leader of Janata Dal (U) Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha
24 November 2005 – 24 November 2010
Chief Minister of Bihar
2006
Elected to Bihar Vidhan Parishad
26 November 2010 – 17 May 2014
Chief Minister of Bihar
22 February 2015 – 19 November 2015
Chief Minister of Bihar
20 November 2015 – 26 July 2017
Chief Minister of Bihar
27 July 2017 – 16 November 2020
Chief Minister of Bihar
2018
Elected to Bihar Vidhan Parishad
16 November 2020 to Present
Chief Minister of Bihar
On 16 November 2020, Nitish Kumar sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Bihar straight for the fourth time.
Nitish Kumar: Personal Life
On 22 February 1973, Nitish Kumar tied the knot with Manju Kumari Sinha. The couple gave birth to a son, Nishant Kumar. On 14 May 2007, Manju Kumari Sinha died in New Delhi due to pneumonia.
Nitish Kumar is considered to be an honest, seasoned politician with a very good image.
