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Informist, Thursday, Mar. 5, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday announced he is vacating the post and moving to the Rajya Sabha, setting political circles abuzz with speculation about who will fill his shoes. The chief minister's post is likely to go to the Bharatiya Janata Party, an ally of Kumar's Janata Dal (United).

 

"From the time I started my parliamentary career, I had a desire in my mind to become a member of both the Houses of the Bihar Legislative Assembly as well as those of Parliament's," Kumar posted on X. "In this sequence, I want to become a member of Rajya Sabha in this election."

 

Kumar has earlier served as a member of the Lok Sabha for multiple terms from the Barh Lok Sabha seat and later from Nalanda. Now in his 10th term, he has been the longest serving chief minister of Bihar. He has held the post since 2005, with a small break from May 2014 to Febuary 2015, when he made way for his party colleague Jitan Ram Manjhi. Through his long stint, he has switched allies, from the BJP to Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal and back.

 

Addressing the people of Bihar, Kumar wrote, "I want to assure you with all sincerity that this relationship with you will continue in future also, and my resolve to build a developed Bihar with you will remain the same...The new government that will be formed will have my full support and guidance."

 

With Kumar's announcement, Bihar's political circles are abuzz with speculation on who will be the next chief minister. The names of the BJP's Samrat Choudhary, Nityanand Rai and Dilip Kumar Jaiswal are doing the rounds. While Choudhary is currently the deputy chief minister of Bihar, Rai is a Union minister and Jaiswal a minister in the Bihar cabinet.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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