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Nitish Kumar: Bihar's longest-serving CM eyes another term after assembly elections 2025
Nitish Kumar's political maneuvers and coalition strategies highlight his enduring influence in the state's tumultuous politics
As Bihar's 2025 assembly election results start coming in, all eyes remain on Nitish Kumar, the state's longest-serving chief minister and one of India's most enduring political figures. Known for his strategic acumen and ability to navigate shifting political landscapes, the Janata Dal (United) supremo remains central to Bihar's politics even after more than two decades in power.
Bihar election results LIVE: Nitish return or ouster?
Nitish Kumar first became chief minister in 2000 and has led the state through several coalition governments, often switching alliances between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
These frequent realignments have labeled him a political "flip-flopper", yet they highlight his unmatched ability to survive and remain relevant in Bihar's unpredictable political environment.
Nitish Kumar's political career
Born in 1951 in Bakhtiyarpur, Nitish Kumar emerged from the Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) Movement of the 1970s, a breeding ground for many socialist leaders of his generation, including Lalu Prasad Yadav.
He entered electoral politics in the early 1980s, winning his first assembly election from Harnaut in 1985 and later serving as a member of Parliament for Barh and Nalanda.
As chief minister, Kumar earned a reputation as a pro-development leader focused on improving governance in a state long associated with so-called “jungle raj".
His initiatives in road infrastructure, rural electrification, education, women's empowerment, and law and order garnered praise for transforming Bihar's image in the 2000s.
Now in his mid-70s, Nitish Kumar continues to dominate the state's political narrative. Whether leading the NDA or aligning with the Opposition, every move he makes reshapes Bihar's electoral landscape.
Since 2006, he has been a member of the Bihar legislative council (MLC), choosing not to contest assembly election directly, a rare move for a sitting chief minister.
'Mr Flip-Flop'
Nitish Kumar’s political journey is defined by his frequent yet calculated alliances and breakups. He parted ways with the BJP in 2013 after Narendra Modi’s emergence as the party’s national face, only to ally with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD and the Congress for the 2015 elections, forming the Mahagathbandhan.
Two years later, in 2017, he switched back to the NDA, citing corruption in the RJD, and once again took oath as chief minister.
In 2020, the NDA, with Nitish in it, won a narrow majority in Bihar’s 243-seat assembly. JD(U)’s seat tally dropped significantly to 43 seats, while BJP got 74. That imbalance began to reshape his standing within the alliance. Then came the big twist — on August 2022, Nitish Kumar again broke away from the BJP-led NDA, resigned as CM, and formed a new coalition with the RJD, Congress and Left parties (the so-called Grand Alliance/Mahagathbandhan) with Tejashwi Yadav as his deputy.
On January 2024, right before the Lok Sabha elections, he again did a U-turn, left the opposition's INDIA bloc and rejoined the NDA, taking oath as CM for the ninth time.
Bihar assembly election 2025
In the Bihar assembly election 2025, the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party contested on an equal footing, each fielding candidates for 101 seats, a balance not seen since 2005. The alliance also includes Chirag Paswan's LJP (RV), Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular).
