Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
By Dheeraj Kumar*
Bihar Awaits Nitish’s Next Move
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may not immediately relinquish his post even if he assumes office as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s Parliament, in the coming weeks. His decision to seek election to the Council of States has triggered speculation about the future leadership of Bihar, though constitutional provisions and political calculations suggest that the transition may not necessarily be immediate.
Nitish Kumar filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha on March 5 amid widespread perception that the move could signal the end of his long innings in Bihar’s day-to-day politics. However, his continuing political activity and recent public engagements indicate that the transition, if it occurs, may unfold gradually rather than abruptly.
Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by elected members of state legislative assemblies through proportional representation using the single transferable vote system. Once elected, the notification by the Election Commission of India is followed by the oath-taking in Parliament. Under Article 101 of the Constitution of India, a person cannot simultaneously remain a member of Parliament and a state legislature beyond a limited period. Consequently, if Nitish Kumar assumes membership of Parliament, he would eventually have to vacate his seat in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, though a brief overlap during the transition is constitutionally permissible.
Under Article 101 of the Constitution of India and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a person elected to Parliament while serving as a member of a State Legislature must vacate one of the memberships within 14 days of the latter election. This means that if Nitish Kumar is elected to the Rajya Sabha, he would have two weeks to resign either from Parliament or from the Bihar Legislative Assembly. During this limited period, he could technically continue to hold both memberships. However, an additional constitutional provision adds a further dimension to the political speculation. Under Article 164(4) of the Constitution of India, a minister — including the chief minister — who is not a member of the State Legislature can continue in office for up to six months, provided he or she secures election to the legislature within that period. In theory, therefore, Nitish Kumar could resign from the Bihar Assembly after entering Parliament and still remain Chief Minister for a limited period while deciding his future political course, although such an arrangement would be politically unusual and would likely require him to return to the Assembly through a by-election if he wished to continue in the post.
Even as the speculation continues, Nitish Kumar has remained politically active. During his statewide outreach programme this year, he has been highlighting the achievements of his government over the past two decades and reviewing the progress of development schemes across several districts. The tour began from Bettiah in West Champaran district—historically associated with Mahatma Gandhi and the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917—and has taken him through several districts of north and north-eastern Bihar. At various stops, he has inaugurated completed projects, laid foundation stones for new initiatives and interacted with officials and residents to review the implementation of government programmes.
The political backdrop to Nitish Kumar’s Rajya Sabha move lies in the results of the 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly election. The polls produced a decisive victory for the National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (United). The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while the JD(U) won 85 seats in the 243-member Assembly. Despite the BJP’s numerical edge, Nitish Kumar continued as chief minister, reflecting his central role in maintaining the alliance’s broader social coalition in the state.
The outcome marked the first time the BJP overtook JD(U) in seat strength in the Assembly since the two parties formed their long-standing alliance. Both parties had contested an equal number of seats in the election, and the relatively narrow gap in their results highlighted the continued political relevance of Nitish Kumar despite the BJP’s organisational expansion in the state.
His possible move to national politics through the Rajya Sabha, therefore, raises questions about the future leadership of Bihar and the internal balance within the ruling coalition. Speculation about potential successors has already begun in political circles, though the BJP has not made any formal announcement regarding leadership change. Among the names often mentioned are Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, as well as Union minister Nityanand Rai, each representing different social constituencies within the party.
Political analyst Pushpendra Kumar Singh, a former professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, believes the transition could create significant challenges for the JD(U). According to him, Nitish Kumar’s leadership has been crucial in sustaining the party’s support base among extremely backward classes, Mahadalits and women voters over the past two decades. If the JD(U) is unable to preserve this coalition in a post-Nitish scenario, the BJP may attempt to expand its influence more aggressively among these groups. In such circumstances, he argues, Bihar politics could gradually evolve into a more direct contest between the BJP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
The debate about Bihar’s political future has also been influenced by developments within the JD(U). Nishant Kumar, Nitish Kumar’s son, has recently stepped into public life and associated himself with the party, leading to speculation about a possible generational transition within the organisation. While he has so far kept a relatively low political profile, his entry has drawn attention within political circles in the state.
Observers sometimes recall earlier constitutional situations involving simultaneous offices. In 1999, Giridhar Gamang, who had become chief minister of Odisha, participated in a vote in the Lok Sabha that led to the fall of the government headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by a margin of one vote. Although the circumstances differ, the episode illustrates how constitutional timelines can intersect with political developments during leadership transitions.
Across the country, the ongoing round of elections to the Rajya Sabha has also seen several candidates declared elected unopposed after the withdrawal of nominations in states where the number of candidates matched the available seats. In Maharashtra, prominent leaders elected without contest include Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), Union minister Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), Vinod Tawde of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Parth Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), Ramrao Wadkute of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jyoti Waghmare of the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and Maya Iwnate of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In West Bengal, the unopposed winners include Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar, Menaka Guruswamy, and Koel Mallick of the All India Trinamool Congress, along with Rahul Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In Assam, Jogen Mohan and Terash Gowalla of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Pramod Boro of the United People’s Party Liberal were elected unopposed. In Telangana, the Indian National Congress nominees Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vem Narender Reddy secured seats without contest. Meanwhile, all six candidates in Tamil Nadu were also elected unopposed, including M. Thambidurai of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Anbumani Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, Tiruchi Siva and J. Constantine Ravindran of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, M. Christopher Tilak of the Indian National Congress, and L. K. Sudhish of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.
Overall, 26 candidates across several states were declared elected uncontested after the nomination withdrawal deadline in the current Rajya Sabha election cycle.
For now, however, Nitish Kumar continues to dominate Bihar’s political landscape. Having first become chief minister in 2005, he has remained the state’s most influential political figure through multiple electoral cycles and shifting alliances. His possible move to the Rajya Sabha signals the potential beginning of a new phase in Bihar politics, though the timing and manner of any leadership transition in the state remain uncertain.
*Senior journalist
