Nitish Kumar to be sworn-in as CM of Bihar: Here is all you need to know about him

JDU chief Nitish Kumar has ruled the state of Bihar for more than a decade and  now with all twists and turns in the recent political drama in the state, Nitish Kumar is all set to take an oath at 10 AM on Thursday as the head of the government that would include BJP and its allies, in less than a day after resigning as Bihar Chief Minister bringing an end to the 20-month-old grand alliance in Bihar.

Here is all you need to know about Nitish Kumar:

Nitish Kumar was born on 1 March 1951 in a place called Bakhtiyarpur, at a distance of 50 km from Patna, the capital city of Bihar. His father, Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh was a freedom fighter as well as an Ayurvedic Vaidyaraj, who left the Indian National Congress to join the Janata Party, as he was denied party ticket to contest 1952 and 1957 general elections.

Kumar did his schooling in Bakhtiyarpur from Ganesh High School, completing matriculation and later completed a degree course in electrical engineering from Bihar College of Engineering.

He was married to Manju Sinha who passed away in 2007, they have a son Nishant, who pursued engineering from the BIT, Mesra, Jharkhand.

Political Background

After playing a key role in the stalwart Jayaprakash Narayan's movement in 1974 to 1977, Nitish marked his debut in political arena in 1980 Bihar elections.

In 1985, he was first elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly as an independent candidate.

He became the President of the Yuva Lok Dal in 1987 and Secretary-General of the Janata Dal in 1989. He was elected as member of the 9th Lok Sabha for the first time in the same year.

Nitish Kumar was briefly, the Union Minister for Railways and Minister for Surface Transport and later, the Minister for Agriculture in 1998–99, in the NDA Government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In August 1999, he resigned following the Gaisal train disaster, taking the responsibility of the disaster as Minister of Railways.

Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar

Nitish took first oath as the Bihar CM in 2000, but his first stint was short-termed that lasted only for a week because of lack of majority. Then, the RJD formed the government with Rabri Devi as the state's chief minister.

In 2005 Bihar assembly elections, Nitish's JD(U) formed the government and since then, he has chamged the shape of Bihar from a backward state to one of the best-governed states in terms of development, infrastructure and most importantly, the crime also reduced under his rule. Besides, Nitish has introduced various schemes related to education and employment in rural areas. 

In his second term, some of the notable achievements of Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) government in Bihar are- Jankari scheme, E-shakti NREGS program, bicycle and meal programs (that led to fall in school drop out rates), 50% reservation in electorals to women and extremely backward castes, health schemes and loan schemes for farmers.

In 2010 Bihar assembly elections, Nitish Kumar swept to power with its former ally BJP. The JD(U)-BJP alliance won 206 seats while Lalu's RJD had to face an embarrassing defeat with just 22 seats.

After resigning in 2014 for his party's poor performance, Nitish Kumar again assumed office of the Chief Minister on 22 February 2015, on the backdrop of upcoming 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, that are seen as his toughest election till date. Thus, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) along with RJD and Congress, formed the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) to counter the BJP in Bihar.