Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar has distinguished himself as a leader who has ruled Bihar for the longest time without his party ever gaining a majority on its own.
Hidden beneath this achievement, which is a testament to his political acumen and survival instinct, is the fact that the 72-year-old leader could never maintain peace with his allies, causing him to frequently change partners.
“The name Nitish Kumar deserves to be included in the Guinness Book of Records for the number of times he has joined, dumped and rejoined the BJP,” was a tongue-in-cheek remark by Congress MLA from Bhagalpur Ajeet Sharma.
Sharma also quoted Kumar’s famous remark: ‘mitti mein mil jaayenge magar BJP ke saath nahin jaaenge’ (I will be condemned to dust instead of returning to the BJP), soon after he first quit ties in 2013 had broken with the saffron party over his objections to the national rise of Narendra Modi, his then counterpart in Gujarat.
No wonder that in a political career spanning four decades, the charge of ‘opportunism’ and names like ‘Paltu Ram’ has stuck like a sore thumb, even as there is no dearth of admirers who remember him for raising the stain of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement, and also never giving in to religious majority thinking.
Born on March 1, 1951 in Bakhtiyarpur, a nondescript town on the outskirts of Patna, to an Ayurvedic practitioner and freedom fighter, Kumar is an electrical engineer by training.
During his days at Bihar Engineering College, now known as NIT, Patna, he became active in student politics and became associated with the ‘JP Movement’, which introduced him to many of his future associates including Lalu Prasad and Sushil Kumar Modi, who subsequently served as president and general secretary of the Patna University Students’ Union respectively.
His first electoral success came in the 1985 Assembly elections, which the Congress won, though he managed to win the Harnaut seat for Lok Dal.
Five years later, he moved to Delhi as an MP from the now abolished seat of Barh.
After another half-decade, when the Mandal wave was at its peak and Prasad was reaping its rewards, Kumar sided with George Fernandes to form the Samata Party, which later morphed into the JD(U)) and assumed power to share with the BJP on the other side. Center and, as of 2005, in the state.
Even critics recall his first five years as prime minister with admiration, marked by vast improvements in restoring law and order in a state that made headlines for massacres by rival militias and kidnappings for ransom.
As a product of the Mandal churn, the Kurmi leader also realized that he did not have the advantage of belonging to a populous caste group and created sub-quotas among OBCs and Dalits called “Ati Pichhda” (EBC) and Mahadalits, a decision that was resented by the dominant Yadavs and Dusadhs (supporters of Paswan).
His government recently increased quotas for all backward classes, a move he had hoped would boost his party’s declining fortunes and also inspire parties in other states, which had joined him to break up the opposition bloc INDIA to shape.
Kumar also extended protection to “Pasmanda” Muslims, which, besides his ability to keep Hindutva vigilantes in check, endeared him to the minority community despite his links with the BJP.
After his break with the BJP in 2013, Kumar still survived in power as the JD(U), which was then just a few members behind the majority, received support from parties such as the Congress and the CPI, besides a disgruntled faction of the R.J.D. . However, a year later, he resigned citing moral responsibility for the JD(U)’s mishandling in the Lok Sabha elections.
Within a year, he was back as chief minister and ousted his rebel protégé Jitan Ram Manjhi, this time armed with ample support from the RJD and Congress.
The Grand Alliance that was formed when JD(U), Congress and RJD came together won the 2015 elections by a wide margin but fell apart within just two years. Kumar returned to the NDA in 2017, hoping to gain some traction after taking a stand against the corruption of his then deputy Tejashwi Yadav.
Five years later, he again became disillusioned with the BJP, blaming it for the JD(U) debacle in the 2020 assembly elections, when Chirag Paswan fielded many BJP rebels on tickets to his Lok Janshakti Party.
By August 2022, he was back in the Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance, which now included three left-wing parties.
Although he retained his chair, Kumar indicated that he had had enough and wanted to guide Yadav, back as his deputy, as his political successor in the state while making great efforts to destroy all political groups opposed to the BJP. together, in the hope that a Janata Party-like formation that, like the post-Emergency polls, could score a victory against a seemingly invincible regime.
Host of the first meeting of like-minded parties, held in Patna last year, he was widely regarded as the architect of the opposition Front INDIA, which, however, shied away from appointing him as chairman and irritated him with suggestions such as projecting the elderly Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as Prime Minister candidate.
Kumar was also deeply irritated by the delay in the seat-sharing arrangement and the inability of the united front members to resolve the differences, as was evident in West Bengal and Punjab.
However, he remained confident that his party would see better days ahead thanks to his government’s recent populist measures, a reason why he is said to have toyed with the idea of dissolving the parliamentary assembly and going to the polls early.
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