Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar secured the Rajya Sabha seat through the elections held on 16 March. File: CMO Bihar/ANI Photo
With just a day left for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to resign from the state legislative council, senior leaders of his Janata Dal (United) party rushed to his official residence in Patna to hold closed-door meetings, amid pleas from a section of the party for Mr. Kumar to stay in Bihar and a lack of clarity on his potential successor.
Mr. Kumar secured the Rajya Sabha seat through the elections held on March 16. Under the rules, he is required to resign his seat in the state legislature – and step down as chief minister – within 14 days of being elected to parliament. Two days ago, Bihar Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar remarked that the Chief Minister of Bihar still has time to resign, till 30.
Leaders who met Mr Kumar at the CM’s official residence on Sunday included Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, Bihar Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Bihar Rural Labor Minister Ashok Choudhary, JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha and several MLAs, including Mokama MLA Anant S.
JD(U) workers are pleading with Nitish to stay
Sources said that during the closed-door meeting, several leaders again suggested that Mr. Kumar should not leave Bihar politics. Ever since he announced that he is moving to the Rajya Sabha, many party workers and leaders have been urging the Bihar CM to reconsider his decision.
Even during Mr. Kumar’s Samriddhi Yatra, which ended on March 26, hundreds of party workers and residents were heard shouting slogans asking the CM why he was going to Delhi. The supporters held placards and placarded him, urging him to stay back in Bihar.
However, after meeting Mr. Kumar, Mr. Anant Singh said that though he also urged him to stay back, the CM has made up his mind and is likely to resign on March 30. “I urged him not to resign from the Council, but he did not listen to me,” Mr Singh said after walking out of the meeting.
The match for the post of CM
In the race to succeed Mr Kumar as CM is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. Even Mr. Kumar himself hinted during the Samriddhi Yatra that this is a likely option,
However, several JD(U) leaders said that Mr. Nitish Kumar’s son, Nishant Kumar, who recently entered active politics, should succeed his father. They claimed that the younger Mr. Kumar has all the qualities needed to become Chief Minister.
Nabin has not resigned yet either
In another development, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, who was also elected to the Rajya Sabha on March 16, was expected to resign as a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Sunday. However, this was postponed at the eleventh hour even as Chairman Prem Kumar arrived at the meeting to resign on Sunday.
A message was sent out on the official Whatsapp group from the assembly office: “All are hereby informed that today at 8.40 am BJP National President Nitin Nabin will tender his resignation from the membership of the legislature in the office chamber of the Speaker, Bihar Legislative Assembly.
However, after fifteen minutes, another message was sent in the same Whatsapp group: “BJP National President Nitin Nabin has not resigned from his membership of the legislature today due to unavoidable reasons.”
Party sources said Mr. Nabin rushed to Assam where the polls were being held while the Assembly Speaker went to the national capital.
Asked if Mr Nabin had resigned, Mr Prem Kumar said, “BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi called me and said that Nitin Nabin will resign today, so I came to the meeting. But he has some other work, so it was postponed.”
Published – 29 March 2026 22:25 IST
