Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has not contested assembly elections since 1985. They become members of the Legislative Council. From 2005 till now, he has been becoming the Chief Minister by being an MLC. His tenure is extended till 2030. At the same time, NDA has registered a historic victory in the 2025 elections.
Nitish Kumar: Nitish Kumar, who has been the Chief Minister of Bihar for the longest time, stays away from the assembly elections. He last served as an MLA in 1985 and has since contested the Assembly elections only once in 1995 from Harnaut, which he did not retain and instead remained a Lok Sabha MP. For almost three decades, he has consistently taken the Legislative Council route to remain a member of the State Legislature.
Why does Nitish Kumar like the Legislative Council?
Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister for the first time in 2000 despite not being a member of any house of the Bihar Legislature. Due to not getting the seat on time, he resigned within 8 days. When he returned to power in 2005, he again took oath as the Chief Minister without contesting the Assembly elections and later became a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) and has been following the same tradition since then.
Nitish completed his first term as MLC in 2012.
Let us tell you that Bihar is one of those 6 states which has a bicameral legislature. Even in Bihar, ministers are allowed to serve through the Legislative Council rather than through direct assembly elections. Nitish completed his first term as MLC in 2012 and was re-elected, raising repeated questions over his reluctance to contest the assembly elections.
Why doesn’t Nitish Kumar contest assembly elections?
Speaking on the subject on the occasion of the centenary of the Legislative Council in January 2012, Nitish had said, “I decided to become an MLC out of my own free will, not due to any compulsion. Not only this, he had also said that he would continue to contest for the Legislative Council again. Before the 2015 elections, he again made it clear that he would not contest from the assembly seat as he did not want to limit his focus to a single constituency.
Nitish Kumar will remain in the Legislative Council till 2030
Nitish Kumar returned to the Legislative Council in 2018 for a third consecutive term, which ends in 2024. He secured another term in March 2024, extending his membership on the council until May 2030. Let us tell you that the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections were held in two phases on 6th and 11th November. The results came on 14 November. NDA has registered a historic victory in Bihar Assembly elections and secured more than 200 seats. At the same time, the grand alliance of Lalu Yadav’s party RJD, Congress and left parties seems to be limited to only 35 seats.