Revision as of 17:11, 14 May 2024

Nitish Kumar, biographical highlights; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, November 9, 2015

Jul 27 2017 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Nitish Kumar’s relations with the NDA, 2009-2017
From The Times of India

His career

Till 2024 Jan

January 29, 2024: The Indian Express

JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar’s Chief Minister for the ninth time on Sunday (January 28), switching sides for the fifth time in little over 10 years.

As Nitish goes back to an alliance with a BJP he has vociferously criticised, and as the BJP accepts with open arms an ally it had aggressively attacked, here are seven things you should know about Nitish, the seemingly indispensable figure of Bihar politics.

1. Nitish first joined hands with the BJP back in 1996

Nitish was part of the socialist crop of leaders in Bihar who came to prominence during the JP Movement of 1974-75. He spent his first few years in politics in the shadow of the more charismatic Lalu Prasad Yadav and the firebrand George Fernandes. Fernandes and Nitish together formed the Samata Party in 1994. In an early display of political canniness, Nitish realised his party’s interests would be best served by aligning with the NDA, which he did in 1996, winning the Lok Sabha seat from Barh. He also became the Bihar CM for a short seven days in 2000 with the NDA’s support.

2. Resigned as Railway Minister on moral grounds

Nitish was the Union Minister for Railways and Minister for Surface Transport in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA government. On August 2, 1999, two trains collided in Gaisal in West Bengal, killing around 285 people. Nitish resigned as minister, taking responsibility. His short tenure was praised for reforms like internet ticket booking facility and the tatkal system.

The same year, he was appointed the Union minister for agriculture, and in 2001, the Railway ministry was restored to him.

3. Walked out of the NDA after Modi was chosen PM candidate

Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when it became clear that Gujarat CM Narendra Modi would be the NDA’s PM face, Nitish walked out of the alliance, saying its leader should have a “clean and secular image”.

4. Resigned after JD(U)’s poor performance

After the JD(U)’s Lok Sabha seats tally fell from 20 to two in 2014, Nitish resigned as CM, taking responsibility for the poor show. Briefly, Bihar had a Chief Minister other than Nitish — Jitan Ram Manjhi was appointed to the top post. However, months later, Manjhi was asked to resign, and when he refused to do so, was expelled from the JD(U). Nitish came back as Chief Minister.

5. His son stays away from politics, is richer than him

Like Nitish, his son Nishant Kumar is also an engineer. He, however, has stayed away from politics, a fact Nitish flaunts to highlight his difference from “dynastic” parties.

As per details of assets of the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues uploaded on the Bihar government website on December 31, 2021, Nitish had Rs 29,385 in cash and nearly Rs 42,763 deposited in the bank, while Nishant had Rs 16,549 in cash and Rs 1.28 crore in Fixed Deposit (FD) or deposits in various banks. Nitish had movable assets worth Rs 16.51 lakh whereas the total value of his immovable assets was around Rs 58.85 lakh. His son owned movable properties worth Rs 1.63 crore and the value of his immovable assets was around Rs 1.98 crore.

6. Why all parties want him

Despite his unreliable track record, there’s a reason Nitish is welcomed back into any alliance he chooses to join. The RJD, despite its larger social base of loyal voters and the enduring popularity of Lalu Yadav, lacks Nitish’s credentials of good governance and development. The BJP, even with its massive appeal on the national level, lacks a leader of stature in Bihar, and understands the value of Nitish’s vote-bank of extremely backwards castes and beneficiaries of government welfare schemes.

7. More terms, but shorter tenure

While Nitish Kumar has been sworn in as Chief Minister nine times, many others have served as CM longer than he has, in fewer tenures. Nitish has been CM for over 17 years, but many, like Sikkim’s Pawan Kumar Chamling (24 years), Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik (23 years), Bengal’s Jyoti Basu (23 years), have been in power for longer than he has.

1994-2024

Nitish Kumar, 1994-2024
From: [January 29, 2024: The Times of India]

'See graphic’:

Nitish Kumar, 1994-2024

9 times CM

[January 29, 2024: The Times of India]

NITISH’S NINE LIVES

1. March 3, 2000 | Took oath as Bihar CM for the first time with BJP’s support


2. Nov 24, 2005 | Sworn in as chief minister with BJP’s support. Remained in power for five years


3. Nov 26, 2010 | Formed government again with BJP’s support


4. Feb 22, 2015 | Replaced Jitan Ram Manjhi (who was then in JD-U) as CM. Earlier, Nitish had snapped ties with NDA in June 2013 after Narendra Modi was made chief of BJP campaign committee. He resigned as CM in May 2014 after JD(U)’s debacle in Lok Sabha elections


5. Nov 20, 2015 | Took oath as Bihar chief minister with RJD’s support. Government lasted for a year and 8 months


6. July 27, 2017 | Sworn in as CM with BJP’s support. Tenure lasted for 3 years, 3 months and 2 weeks


7. Nov 16, 2020 | Took oath as CM with BJP’s support. Govt lasted for 21 months


8. Aug 10, 2022 | Quit NDA again, became CM with the help of RJD, Congress and Left


9. Jan 28, 2024 | Severed ties with RJD once again. Sworn in as Bihar CM with NDA’s support

2017

Nitish returns to NDA fold

Bihar Political Crisis: As Nitish returns to NDA fold, a flashback of all those times Narendra Modi and JD(U) chief sniped at each other|Jul, 27 2017 13: Times of India

Narendra Modi hailed Nitish Kumar on Wednesday immediately after the latter announced his resignation as the Chief Minister of Bihar. Modi tweeted: "Congratulations! Nitish Kumar for joining the fight against corruption."

Modi said that 1.25 crore people welcomed Kumar's decision and said that it was "the need of the hour to rise above political differences" and fight corruption.

But even as Kumar parted ways with the Mahagathbandhan and called his move as that in the interest of the state, the fact that BJP and JD(U) have been at loggerheads for a while cannot be overlooked.Kumar's JD(U) broke a 17-year alliance with the BJP in June 2013 after the party appointed Modi as the chief of election campaign for BJP's 2014 Lok Sabha elections. After that, Kumar and Modi continued to hold grudge and often targeted each other at public rallies. On similar lines, JD(U)'s view pertaining to BJP, and vice versa, also kept fluctuating after the end of alliance.

Days after BJP revealed Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, speaking on the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, Kumar had said, "To govern a country like India, you have to take everyone along; sometimes you will have to wear a topi and sometimes tilak (kabhi topi bhi pehenni padhegi, kabhi tilak bhi lagana padega)," according to The Times of India. This was seen as a dig at Modi, who had, in 2011, refused to wear s skull cap offered by a Muslim cleric during his sadbhavna fast.

Modi's attack on JD(U)

Attacking the JD(U)-RJD alliance, Modi had dubbed RJD as "Rozana Jungle Raj ka Darr" in July 2015. Modi had then also said that there was something wrong with Kumar's "political DNA".

Modi's address received criticism as JD(U) leader KC Tyagi said, "Aisa laga jaise koi Nitish Kumar se badla lene ki icchha se aaya hua hai. Mujhe unke bhaashan se niraasha hui. PM ke mooh se jaati ki baaten achi nahi lagti. Jis tarah se unhone yadhvansh ka haavala deke Lalu ji ka zikra kiya, ye kisi desh ke shaaleen Pradhaanmantri ko shobha nahi deta. (It looked like the prime minister was in Bihar to malign Kumar. This is vendetta politics and it doesn't suit a prime minister of a country. I was disappointed.)"

Ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls, Kumar had called the R S S the BJP's ideological mentor. “What is the power of the BJP in front of the R S S… the R S S is like the Supreme Court of the BJP and now they seek to instal an extra-constitutional body to review reservation,” he was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

In November the same year, Modi had also accused Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad of jointly demanding a review of the policy to provide for religion-based reservation in 2005. While addressing poll rallies for the last phase of the Bihar polls, he launched a fresh attack against the two, saying ‘jungle raj’ now had a twin brother in ‘jantar-mantar’ (black magic), and together the two will “spell doom” for the state. He also criticised Kumar for meeting a tantrik, saying that he was resorting to “black magic as he does not believe in democracy”.

JD(U)'s demand for Sangh-free India

On several occasions, Kumar called for a Sangh-Mukt Bharat in 2016. “ To make India Sangh-free, all parties must come together(Sangh-mukt Bharat banane ke liye sabhi gair BJP parties ko ek hona hoga (to usher in a Sangh-free India all non-BJP parties have to come together),” the new JD(U) chief said at the ‘Advantage Conclave’, reported The Hindu.

Days after supporting Modi's demonetisation move, Kumar met Hardik Patel, the leader of the quota agitation for Patidars — traditional BJP supporters who are currently at odds with the party. Had decided on a slogan: "Modi harao, desh bachao (Vote out Modi, save the nation)," according to NDTV.

Switching positions

In May 2017, Kumar met Sonia Gandhi to discuss the need for forging unity among the Opposition parties to take on the BJP-led NDA.

However, he kept changing his views on Modi. Nitish had in May also said that he was not as capable as Modi, and that he had no naitonal ambitions. Nitish later skipped Sonia Gandhi's luncheon held particularly in the context of 2017 presidential polls, and instead met Modi a day later.

However, days before International Day of Yoga, Kumar backed out from extending support to Modi's campaign and dubbed the event a "publicity stunt", according to India Today.

In June, JD(U) had slammed BJP for not addressing mob lynching issues, and for making cow the "national agenda" in a bid to polarise votes, India Today reported. However, in the same month BJP had come out to say Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar had nothing but love for each other. BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said, "The coalition in Bihar is riddled with internal contradictions. While there is a natural admiration between the prime minister and Nitish Kumar, the open attacks among the alliance partners signal a massive churn." But now that the JD(U) and BJP have planned to stitch an alliance in Bihar, their take on each other is at least not left to the imagination.

Why Nitish changed mind

Friends, Season 2: Why Nitish changed mind|Jul 27 2017 : The Times of India (Delhi)

CM Joined Hands With BJP After Learning Of Lalu's Offer To NDA To Topple Govt

Though beset with contradictions and led by a chief minister who chafed at the constraints imposed on him by coalition compulsions, the grand alliance in Bihar would not have unravelled so soon had it not been for Nitish Kumar's suspicions of betrayal.

Sources in JD(U) said that though Nitish was not happy with the conduct of ministers nominated by RJD who would take orders from Lalu Prasad, it was the “reliable report“ of the latter offering a deal to BJP which turned out to be the tipping point for him.

JD(U) sources alleged that Lalu's emissaries had approached two Union ministers offering to pull the rug from under Nitish's feet in lieu of the Centre's help with legal troubles facing their boss.

Convicted for his complicity in a corruption case and, as a result, barred from contesting elections, Lalu had won a big battle when Jharkhand high court endorsed his argument that having already been convicted in the fodder scam case, he could not be tried separately for cases which were part of the larger conspiracy to embezzle money meant to buy animal feed for government-run dairy and poultry forms.

The CBI had challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court and, according to JD (U), RJD wanted the Centre to go easy during the hearing. The two Union ministers shared details of the purported offer with the leadership and within no time, news of the conspiracy reached Nitish.

The CM ran his own check and found the “tip-off “ to be credible -a determination which, JD(U) sources said, deepened the divergence. On May 8, the SC struck down the Jharkhand HC order and ruled that Lalu would have to face trial in each of the cases registered against him in connection with the fodder scam. The top court, in fact, passed severe strictures against the HC judge who gave the verdict .

Months of back-room work

Akhilesh Singh|REUNION - Synchronised events show months of back-room work|Jul 27 2017 : The Times of India (Delhi)

There was more than a hint of synchronisation in the events played out in Patna and Delhi as BJP played its cards astutely on Wednesday with a scheduled meeting of the parliamentary board quickly deciding to back Nitish Kumar as CM and seal the deal for a coalition government.

Having already offered outside support to Nitish in case he broke with RJD, the BJP brass revised its public script almost every few minutes as the party first announced that it would would not like mid-terms polls in Bihar and then a little later announced that it would join a coalition.

The two parties worked over recent months to revive their 17-year-long alliance which ended abruptly in June 2013 when Nitish parted ways expressing strong opposition to Narendra Modi being considered as the NDA's prime ministerial candidate.

The tie-up is intended to highlight a common agenda against corruption as also underscore an alliance with a major backward caste leader, a significant factor in Bihar and neighbouring UP.With Modi's own OBC credentials seen as an asset, the pact with Nitish weakens the argument that BJP caters to upper caste interests.

As the high political drama unfolded soon after Nitish sought an appointment with Bihar governor Kesarinath Tripathi on Wednesday evening, BJP moved to leave no confusion about the return of a JD(U)-BJP government in the state. Asked about a reunion with BJP , Nitish bolstered saffron spirits by saying his next move would be in the interest of the state.

Soon after Nitish's resignation, PM Narendra Modi tweeted his approval of the move as he linked it with the war against corruption, one of the major planks of the NDA government including measures like demonetisation and the law to crack down on benami property .

Modi tweeted, “I congratulate Nitish Kumar for joining fight against corruption.125 crore people of the coun try are with him... Rising above political affiliations, fight against corruption is in the interest of Bihar and the country .“ Later, Modi's tweets turned out to be the official BJP line as several of its leaders hinted at joining hands with Nitish, terming it an alliance of crusaders against corruption.

It may be a coincidence but BJP convened its parliamentary board meeting initially about finalising candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls. However, there was a formal briefing about political developments in Bihar after the parliamentary board meet.

Sushil Modi said BJP had decided to support Nitish. “Nityanandji and I called on Nitishji. BJP will support him, will support the government under him, We will inform the governor also,“ Sushil Modi said after a brief meeting with party legislators in Patna. Reports of Lalu Prasad's confidantes meeting BJP leaders to plot against Nitish only served to quicken events. Sources said Lalu's aides urged leniency in a probe against the RJD boss and offered to unsettle the Nitish government in return.