Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set to ‘flip-flop’ again, this time over his stance on “dynasty politics”. The JD(U) is set to launch his only son Nishant in politics and – as per reports – may field him as one of the party candidates for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections.
The announcement came from state Rural Development Minister and senior party leader Shrawon Kumar, who has been a close aide of the JD(U) chief since the Samata Party days, in the 1990s.
“On the eve of Holi, I have some good news to share with the people of Bihar. It has been some time since there have been demands, from within the JD(U) as well as from among the state’s youth, that Nishant, the son of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, join politics. Decks have been cleared for that and a formal announcement will be made in a day or two,” Shrawon Kumar told news agency PTI.
Nitish is a graduate from the Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra
Not much is known on the reclusive son of Bihar’s longest chief minister, who is a bachelor and is said to have few interests besides spirituality and listening to devotional songs.
An engineering graduate who is in his 40s, Nishant has publicly stated he had no interest in politics. In 2017, he had famously remarked that his “first choice is spiritualism.”
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On the rare occasions in public, Nishant has endeared himself to the people by his humility. Also, while interacting with the media, he has given glimpses of the close track he keeps of the good work done by his father.
“My father is against dynasty politics and I personally have no interest in it… I will never enter politics and I have accepted spirituality,” he told reporters at the time.
Nine years later, Nishant’s shift marks a significant turning point in the JD(U)’s succession planning following the NDA’s landslide victory in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.
According to recent filings, his net worth is approximately ₹3.61 crore, largely comprising assets inherited from his mother.
Nishant likely to be fielded from Harivansh Singh’s Rajya Sabha seat
Of the five Rajya Sabha seats going to polls in the biennial elections, the JD(U) holds two. The party is understood to give a ticket to Ram Nath Thakur, a Union minister and son of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur, for a third consecutive term in the Rajya Sabha.
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However, journalist-turned-politician Harivansh Narayan Singh, who has also been the deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha since 2020, is unlikely to get a Rajya Sabha extension.
Speculations are rife that Nishant, known to be reticent but with a good grasp of public affairs, could be fielded from the seat that Singh would vacate. |
