You are now one of them, Mr Nitish Kumar

New Delhi: For decades, outgoing Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had projected himself as being staunchly against dynasty politics, often attacking his bete noire and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and other political rivals for promoting parivarvaad.

At every forum, Nitish Kumar would go to great lengths to explain how he was following in the footsteps of former Bihar chief minister and socialist leader Karpoori Thakur by not allowing anyone from his family to join politics.

Karpoori Thakur's son Ram Nath Thakur joined politics after his father's death.

Some years ago, while responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's statement that political dynasties are a fact of life in India, Nitish Kumar disapproved of the remarks, calling them unacceptable to the people of the country.

He went on to blame the Congress for "generating" dynastic politics in India and termed it a disease that had spread to other political parties.

"Personally, I am against dynastic politics. Neither my son nor anybody else from my family is in politics," he maintained.

While he boasted of being against dynasty politics, his cabinet, especially in this term, had representatives from many political families.

Even then, Nitish Kumar continued to stand on an ethical pedestal, insisting that he had kept his only son, Nishant, away from politics.

But that pedestal eventually came crashing down on Sunday, March 8, with Nishant's entry into Bihar politics. He will be appointed deputy chief minister once his father moves to the Rajya Sabha.

The balloon has been punctured, and his party, the Janata Dal (United), will no longer be able to take the moral high ground on the dynasty issue. Nitish Kumar has finally become one of them.