Nitish files Rajya Sabha nomination, new Bihar govt likely to be headed by BJP CM

Patna, Mar 5 (PTI) JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar on Thursday filed nomination papers for Rajya Sabha elections, marking a turning point in Bihar politics and virtually bringing the curtain down on his tenure as the state's longest-serving chief minister, paving the way for a new government in the Hindi heartland state, likely to be headed by the BJP.

Kumar, who turned 75 last week, may well go down in history as an astute politician who headed the state government a record 10 times since 2005, despite his JD(U) never winning a majority in the state assembly.

The JD(U) supremo announced his intention to return to Parliament through an X post, stunning party workers. JD(U) workers vandalised the party office, alleging that the BJP hatched a "conspiracy" to elbow out their trusted leader, with the help of "moles like Lalan Singh and Sanjay Jha," two of his most trusted aides. Singh and Jha didn't react to these charges.

Expressing gratitude to the people of the state, Kumar said, "For more than two decades, you have consistently placed your trust and support in me, and it is on the strength of that trust that we have served Bihar and all of you with complete dedication. It is the power of your trust and support that has enabled Bihar today to present a new dimension of development and dignity." Kumar said that from the very beginning of his parliamentary journey, he wanted 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.

"I want to assure you with complete honesty that my relationship with you will continue in the future as well, and my resolve to work together with you to build a developed Bihar will remain steadfast. The new government that will be formed will have my full cooperation and guidance," he added.

He was accompanied, among others, by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who flew down from the national capital, during the nomination process.

Meanwhile, sources in the NDA said it will take a few weeks before Kumar relinquishes the Chief Minister's post, which he is likely to hold until leaving for the national capital to be sworn in as a member of Parliament.

During this period, the JD(U) is expected to formalise the induction of Kumar's only son, Nishant, whose entry into politics some leaders believe was indispensable to save the party from disintegration.

According to sources in the NDA, Kumar is also said to have apprised the BJP top leadership of the need to project "a Dalit face", suggesting that either the party choose a person from the Scheduled Castes as his successor or let one from JD(U) become the Deputy CM.

RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav, his former deputy who is currently the leader of the opposition, said, "BJP has done a Maharashtra in Bihar. But Nitish Kumar has only himself to blame. While in alliance, we supported him as Chief Minister despite having more MLAs, but he chose to walk away on two occasions." The JD(U) supremo, however, has much to look back on with satisfaction. Having started as a politically inclined engineering student in the 1970s, he cut his teeth in the "JP movement" launched by legendary socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan.

Electoral success eluded him until 1985, when he won the Harnaut assembly seat in his home district of Nalanda.

Four years later, he was in Parliament, as the MP from Barh, and the "rise of the OBCs" that Mandal signified, earned him a berth in the ministry headed by VP Singh. Kumar has since never looked back despite switching allies frequently during his political journey of over 50 years.

Several opposition parties reacted strongly to the development. The Congress termed it a "leadership coup" and claimed it was a "regime change orchestrated by G2." Yadav termed Kumar's decision a "betrayal" of the people's mandate and alleged the BJP has always been opposed to Dalits and OBCs, and with Kumar leaving the CM's post, it will seek to implement its agenda in the socialist stronghold.

Alleging that the BJP has "hijacked" Kumar, Yadav said that was the reason the veteran leader was now moving to the Rajya Sabha.

Nitish's action on Thursday has also paved the way for the formation of a new government, with the BJP now appearing poised to have its "own CM" in the only Hindi heartland state where the post has eluded the party.

The writing had been on the wall ever since the BJP emerged as the single largest party, with 89 seats, in the assembly polls held less than four months ago, outperforming the JD(U) for the second time after 2020.

Among the names doing the rounds for the CM's post is Samrat Choudhary, whom Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP's veritable principal strategist, had vowed to make "a big man" during the assembly poll campaign.

Choudhary, currently a Deputy CM with the crucial portfolio of Home, is a Koeri, an OBC caste which has been sore over never having its "own chief minister".

However, it remains to be seen whether the party, known to put a premium on ideology, would be willing to place more trust in Choudhary, who had started off with the RJD and joined the BJP less than a decade ago.

Another name that is doing the rounds is that of Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, a Sangh Parivar veteran who started off as a fiery ABVP activist when the Ayodhya movement was at its peak.

Rai is a Yadav, the most populous of all castes in Bihar, which has so far been aligned with Lalu Prasad and his RJD.

According to BJP sources, his elevation is "fraught with the risk of annoying the upper castes and alarming the numerically small Kurmis, the caste to which Nitish Kumar belongs, besides extremely backward classes, as these social groups consider the Yadavs to be too aggressive". PTI NAC PKD SOM PYK PYK