Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar
Kumar in 2024
22nd Chief Minister of Bihar
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 February 2015
Governor	Keshari Nath Tripathi Ram Nath Kovind Satya Pal Malik Lalji Tandon Phagu Chauhan Rajendra Arlekar Arif Mohammad Khan
Preceded by	Jitan Ram Manjhi
In office 24 November 2005 – 20 May 2014
Governor	Buta Singh Gopalkrishna Gandhi R. S. Gavai R. L. Bhatia Devanand Konwar D. Y. Patil
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	Jitan Ram Manjhi
In office 3 March 2000 – 10 March 2000
Governor	V. C. Pande
Preceded by	Rabri Devi
Succeeded by	Rabri Devi
27th Union Minister of Railways
In office 20 March 2001 – 21 May 2004
President	K. R. Narayanan A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Mamata Banerjee
Succeeded by	Lalu Prasad Yadav
In office 19 March 1998 – 5 August 1999
President	K. R. Narayanan
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Ram Vilas Paswan
Succeeded by	Mamata Banerjee
24th Union Minister of Agriculture
In office 27 May 2000 – 21 July 2001
President	K. R. Narayanan
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Sunder Lal Patwa
Succeeded by	Ajit Singh
In office 22 November 1999 – 3 March 2000
President	K. R. Narayanan
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Succeeded by	Sunder Lal Patwa
11th Union Minister of Surface Transport
In office 13 October 1999 – 22 November 1999
President	K. R. Narayanan
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	M. Thambidurai
Succeeded by	Jaswant Singh
In office 14 April 1998 – 5 August 1999
President	K. R. Narayanan
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Jaswant Singh
Succeeded by	Rajnath Singh
24th Union Minister of State of Agriculture
In office 23 April 1990 – 10 November 1990
President	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
Prime Minister	V. P. Singh
Minister	Devi Lal V. P. Singh
Succeeded by	Upendra Nath Verma
Preceded by	Janardhana Poojary
Parliamentary offices Member of Bihar Legislative Council Incumbent Assumed office 7 May 2006 Constituency elected by Legislative Assembly members Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha In office 2004–2005 Preceded by George Fernandes Succeeded by Ram Swaroop Prasad Constituency Nalanda In office 1989–2004 Preceded by Prakash Chandra Yadav Succeeded by Vijay Krishna Constituency Barh Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly In office 1995–1996 Preceded by Braj Nandan Yadav Succeeded by Arun Kumar Singh Constituency Harnaut In office 1985–1990 Preceded by Arun Kumar Singh Succeeded by Braj Nandan Yadav Constituency Harnaut
Party political offices National President of Janata Dal (United) Incumbent Assumed office 29 December 2023 Preceded by Lalan Singh In office 10 April 2016 – 27 December 2020 Preceded by Sharad Yadav Succeeded by RCP Singh
Personal details
Born	(1951-03-01) 1 March 1951 (age 74) Bakhtiarpur, Bihar, India
Political party	Janata Dal (United) (2005–present)
Other political affiliations	National Democratic Alliance (2024–present; 2017–2022; 1999–2013) Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (2023–2024) United Progressive Alliance (2022–2023; 2015–2017) Samata Party (until 2005) Janata Dal (1989–1994)
Spouse	Manju Sinha ​ ​ (m. 1973; died 2007)​
Children	1
Parents	Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh (father) Parmeshwari Devi (mother)
Alma mater	National Institute of Technology, Patna (BE)
Signature
Source: [1]

Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest serving chief minister whilst also holding the post for his 9th term.^[1]

He is the leader of the Janata Dal (United). Previously, Kumar also served as a Union Minister as the Samata Party member.^[2] He was member of the Samata Party until 2005 and Janata Dal from 1989 to 1994. Kumar first entered politics as a member of the Janata Dal, becoming an MLA in 1985. A socialist, Kumar founded the Samata Party in 1994 along with George Fernandes. In 1996 he was elected to the Lok Sabha, and served as a Union Minister in the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with his party joining the National Democratic Alliance. In 2003 his party merged into the Janata Dal (United), and Kumar became its leader. In 2005, the NDA won a majority in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, and Kumar became chief minister heading a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In the 2010 state elections, the governing coalition won re-election in a landslide. In June 2013, Kumar broke with the BJP after Narendra Modi was named as their candidate for prime minister, and formed the Mahagathbandhan, a coalition with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Indian National Congress and joined in United Progressive Alliance. On 17 May 2014, Kumar resigned as chief minister after the party suffered severe losses in the 2014 Indian general election, and was replaced by Jitan Ram Manjhi. However, he attempted to return as chief minister in February 2015, sparking a political crisis that eventually saw Manjhi resign and Kumar become chief minister again. Later that year, the Mahagathbandhan won a large majority in the state elections. In 2017, Kumar broke with the RJD over corruption allegations and returned to the NDA, leading another coalition with the BJP; at the 2020 state elections his government was narrowly reelected. In August 2022, Kumar left the NDA, rejoining the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) and UPA.^[3][4] In January 2024, Kumar left the Mahagathbandhan once again and rejoined the NDA.^[5]