About Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar is an Indian politician, who has been serving as the 22nd Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister. He is the leader of the Janata Dal (United). Previously, Kumar also served as a Union Minister as a member of the Samata Party. He was a member of the Samata Party until 2005 and Janata Dal from 1989 to 1994. Kumar first entered politics as a member of the Janata Dal, becoming an MLA in 1985. A socialist, Kumar founded the Samata Party in 1994 along with George Fernandes. In 1996 he was elected to the Lok Sabha, and served as a Union Minister in the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with his party joining the National Democratic Alliance. In 2003 his party merged into the Janata Dal (United), and Kumar became its leader. In 2005, the NDA won a majority in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, and Kumar became chief minister heading a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s Biography
Full name | Nitish Kumar |
Date of Birth/DOB | 1 March 1951 |
Birth Place | Bakhtiarpur, Bihar, India |
Current Designation | 22nd Chief Minister of Bihar |
Current Address | 22, Akbar Road New Delhi – 110 001 |
permanent address | Village โ Hakikatpur, Post and Police Station โ Bakhtiyarpur, District โ Patna. |
Profession | Social worker, farmer, engineer, Politician |
Father name | Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh |
Mother name | Parmeshwari Devi |
Married | Yes |
Spouse | Manju Sinha |
Children | 1 son |
Education Qualification | degree in Electrical Engineering |
College or University | Bihar College of Engineering |
Religion | Hinduism |
Nationality | Indian |
Political party | Janata Dal (United) |
Other political affiliations | Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (2023-Present) National Democratic Alliance (2017-2022) (1999-2013) Samata Party (until 2005) Janata Dal (1989โ1994) |
Bihar CM 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. From 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 a 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 โ 10 May 1996 | Member of the Railway Convention Committee |
8 April 1993 โ 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 โ 5 August 1999 | Union Minister of Railways |
14 April 1998 โ 5 August 1999 | Union Minister of Surface Transport (additional charge) |
1999 | Re-elected to the 13th Lok Sabha |
13 October 1999 โ 22 November 1999 | Union Minister of Surface Transport |
22 November 1999 โ 3 March 2000 | Union Minister of Agriculture |
3 March 2000 โ 10 March 2000 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
27 May 2000 โ 20 March 2001 | Union Minister of Agriculture |
20 March 2001 โ 21 July 2001 | Union Minister of Agriculture (additional charge of Railways) |
22 July 2001 โ 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 โ 24 November 2010 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
2006 | Elected to Bihar Vidhan Parishad |
26 November 2010 โ 17 May 2014 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
22 February 2015 โ 19 November 2015 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
20 November 2015 โ 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 |
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