Nitish Kumar to contest Rajya Sabha polls after two decades as Bihar CM

Patna, Mar 5: JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, on Thursday, announced that he will contest the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, effectively bringing the curtain down on his tenure as Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister.

Kumar, who has held the post since 2005, said the new government that will be formed in the state will have his full cooperation and guidance.

“For more than two decades, you have consistently placed your trust and support in me. It is on the strength of that trust that we have served Bihar and all of you with complete dedication,” he said, expressing gratitude to the people of the state.

“It was the power of your trust and support that has enabled Bihar today to present a new dimension of development and dignity,” Kumar added.

Kumar said that from the very beginning of his parliamentary journey, he had aspired to become a member of both Houses of the Bihar legislature as well as both Houses of Parliament.

“In keeping with this aspiration, I seek to become a member of the Rajya Sabha in the elections being held this time,” he said.

If that happens, Bihar will get its first BJP chief minister; making it the only Hindi heartland state where the party has not held the office so far.

Five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar will go to the polls on March 16, with Thursday being the last day for filing nominations.

Kumar’s election to the Upper House of Parliament is considered almost certain given the current numbers in the state legislature.

The development comes two days after JD(U) leaders said the Chief Minister’s son, Nishant Kumar, would enter active politics.

Speculation is rife that Nishant, an engineering graduate in his 40s, could join the new government as deputy chief minister.

Meanwhile, since Thursday morning, a large number of JD(U) workers have been protesting outside the chief minister’s residence against Kumar’s decision.

State Sunni Waqf Board chairman Alhaj Mohammad Irshadullah, a JD(U) leader, said party workers were unhappy with the development.

“Party workers are not happy with Nitish Kumar’s decision to leave Bihar politics and go to the Rajya Sabha. When I came to know about it, it was a shocker for me. He should have remained the chief minister,” he said.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh also reacted to the development.

“What the Indian National Congress had been saying often during the Bihar election campaign has now come to pass,” he said on social media.

“A leadership coup and regime change orchestrated by G2 has taken place. It is, in many ways, a huge betrayal of the mandate of the people,” Ramesh added.

PTI