When Nitish saw Delhi as distant, he found it convenient to save Patna’s chair.
Bihar Election 2025: Nitish Kumar is once again at the center of Bihar elections. Of course they have been hitting back. Those who leave his side, he calls them Paltu. But even after getting cheated, he remains eager to take them with him again with open arms. They are such a force that they cannot come to power alone and on the other hand, without them, no government can be formed in Bihar. This trend has been going on for the last twenty years.
There is speculation whether he will get a chance to take oath as Chief Minister for the tenth time or not. The Grand Alliance has used all its strength to block his path. The political journey of Nitish, who was once a contender for the post of Prime Minister, has been very interesting. He was among those who lost his first election as a Janata Party candidate in the Janata wave of 1977. He was defeated for the second time in 1980.
For the third time in the elections of 1985, he had said that if he lost this time too, he would not leave politics but would retire from electoral politics like JP and Kishan Patnaik. However, this did not happen. Nitish had won this election. Then they kept moving forward and even turned around when necessary. Bihar is once again going to elect a new government. Nitish has a claim for leadership. On this occasion, read the interesting story of Nitish’s political journey.
lost even in public wave
Congress was wiped out in North India in the Janata wave of 1977. In this election, the generation of youth who emerged from the womb of JP’s entire movement got ample opportunity to contest the elections. Bihar was the center of this movement. Nitish was in the front row of the movement. Janata Party made him the assembly candidate from Harnaut (Nalanda). But even in Janata wave, he lost this election against Bhola Prasad Singh of Congress.
By 1994, after Lalu became the Chief Minister, the distance between Nitish had increased considerably.
In 1980, he once again faced defeat from the same constituency. This time Arun Chaudhary was in front of him. This defeat was very painful for him, because it was not the voters but the muscle power and looting of votes that caused this defeat. Nitish’s friend Uday Kant’s book “Nitish Kumar: Through the eyes of close friends” writes that villages were blocked at gunpoint to prevent Nitish supporting voters from reaching the booths.
Booths were looted. The personnel doing election duty kept pleading for the safety of their lives. Still, there were complete arrangements at every booth to beat up those who did not agree. This defeat was even more immoral than Abhimanyu’s murder.
Nitish’s political journey has passed between alliances. Photo: PTI
There was preparation to follow the path of JP, Kishan Patnaik
Nitish’s courage to contest elections for the third time was intact but his poor financial condition was troubling him. Efforts were on to get a job for wife Manju to run the family car. In 1985, he once again contested from Harnaut. Then in an election rally, Nitish had made an emotional appeal to the voters, “Even if you do not win this time, I will continue to serve you all to the best of my ability. I will not leave politics. But I will never contest elections again.”
However, this time Nitish was hopeful. In typical Magahi, he had said to his friend Arun, “Lagao hi ki ee baar hum jeet jaibau..(It seems that this time I will win)! But he also said that if he lost, he would not leave politics but would retire from electoral politics like JP and Kishan Patnaik. If he lost, his intention was to publish a magazine of socialist thinking and lead more mass movements. This did not happen. Nitish won this election by a huge margin. Had gone.
Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Lalu’s support
Nitish reached Delhi in 1989. In this election, both he and Lalu were elected to the Lok Sabha on Janata Dal ticket. Lalu has claimed in his autobiography that he and Nitish used to roam around the PMO wearing their best kurta-pajama in an attempt to become ministers at the Centre. However, Nitish had rejected this claim of Lalu. He definitely admitted that sometimes he used to go with Lalu to meet big leaders.
On the other hand, the chair of Chief Minister in Bihar was waiting for Lalu. Nitish Kumar became his helper in this. In 1990, Lalu was elected Chief Minister for the first time. But by 1994, the distance between Nitish and Lalu had increased considerably. Nitish formed Samata Party with George Fernandez. The results of its first Bihar Assembly elections in 1995 were very disappointing for the Samata Party. Out of its 310 candidates, only seven could win.
Nitish Kumar and PM Modi at a program in Gaya, Bihar.
journey of alliances
Nitish’s further political journey has been spent between alliances. Apart from the 2015 elections, he has been contesting with the BJP in the Bihar Assembly elections since 2005. It is a different matter that some time after RJD’s victory in the alliance in 2015, he joined BJP. On the other hand, he won with BJP in 2020 but after some time took RJD along with him in the government. At present he is with BJP and has been repeatedly repeating loudly that a mistake was made twice. Now I will never make a mistake and will always be with BJP.
Age is showing its effect on Nitish. From public meetings to the House, his tongue keeps slipping from time to time. Nitish, who once canceled the dinner invitation of the BJP executive when his photo holding hands with Narendra Modi was published in the newspapers, has on some occasions been seen bowing before Modi in public programs to such an extent that even his supporters are shocked.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (file photo)
The kindest person of good nature can do bad company
Nitish, a shrewd player of politics, presents good arguments in defense of his decisions of reshuffle. When he speaks against Lalu, he reminds him of his jungle raj and corruption. When one has to be with them, they say, “Jo Rahim Uttam Prakriti Ka Kar Sakat Kusang, Chandan Vish Vyapat Nahi Latte Rahe Bhujang.”
On such occasions his emphasis is on the strength of the forces of social justice. However, Nitish later clarified that he had said Bhujang to BJP and not to Lalu. To the same BJP with whom his political journey continues. Nitish’s success is that his party does not question his decisions. They cleanly sideline leaders who disagree with them. He is the only leader of the party who has his own vote bank.
Allies know that Nitish’s trust is necessary for everything from election victory to power sharing. Even amidst the changes in alliances, the unity of the JD (U) legislative party behind Nitish is a big asset for Nitish.
When Delhi looked far away, Patna was saved.
Nitish has remained a party in Bihar politics for a long time. Of course they fight with the support of allies but accept cooperation on their own terms. His charisma is that even after being in coalition, his government lasts for five years. His skill of backfiring keeps the allies alert, but still he is forced to trust, this is an additional success of Nitish. In a state like Bihar, he has made a record of taking oath as Chief Minister nine times. He has a strong claim for the tenth time also. The manipulations to remain in power have definitely raised questions on his political credibility, but despite being at the helm of power for a long time, not having any imputation on his personal integrity is his biggest achievement. But there is another aspect to his achievement in Bihar.
Like any successful leader, he has also been desirous of the post of Prime Minister. He also made indirect efforts for this during the period of alliances. He left BJP twice under the leadership of Narendra Modi under this strategy. Also associated with the opposition alliance. But when Delhi looked far away, he found it convenient to save the chair of Patna. There is hope ahead.
Also read: How did Hemu Vikramaditya, who defeated the Mughals, capture Delhi?