Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister with more than two decades in office, is moving to the Rajya Sabha and filed his nomination papers on Thursday. The 75-year-old leader also confirmed that the new government in Bihar will have his full support.
Opposition parties attacked Kumar, terming it a “betrayal of the people’s mandate” as Nitish’s exit marks the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister of Bihar.
Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, alleged that the BJP has been consistently anti-Dalits and OBCs and claimed that if Kumar steps down as CM, the party will try to push its agenda in what he termed a socialist bastion, according to PTI.
“BJP has carried out Maharashtra in Bihar. We have said from the very beginning that BJP will not allow Nitish Kumar to remain Chief Minister after the elections. That is exactly what has happened. This development is against the people’s mandate and tantamount to betraying them,” he said.
Read also | Nitish Kumar quits as Bihar CM? Here’s what we know
He further claimed that the BJP had effectively “kidnapped” Kumar, suggesting that this was the reason why the veteran leader was now heading to the Rajya Sabha.
Yadav accused the BJP of being anti-OBCs and Dalits, claiming the party did not want leaders from these communities to hold the top post and instead preferred a chief minister who would act as a rubber stamp for its central leadership.
Read also | How Nitish Kumar’s Rajya Sabha move could create a political upheaval in Bihar
Using a metaphor to illustrate his point, he said that although Kumar was forced to mount the horse as a groom, someone else took the wedding vows, suggesting that the real authority lay elsewhere.
“I said – ‘Nitish is riding her as a groomsman, but he will get someone else to take the wedding vows,'” Yadav said.
Read also | Amit Shah welcomes Nitish Kumar’s return to national politics as a Rajya Sabha MP
RJD’s Manoj Jha says Nitish’s X post was drafted in ‘Delhi Durbar’
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha alleged that the post shared by the JD(U) leader on X appeared to be written in “Delhi Durbar”, suggesting outside influence in its wording. He mentioned that the people of Bihar will react to Kumar’s decision in due course.
“After reading this tweet, I can say with certainty that he did not write it. The post was prepared in Delhi. Even if you ask a 10-year-old kid in Bihar about the tweet, he will point to Delhi Durbar,” Jha said.
The RJD leader said the “core supporters” of the JD(U) feel disappointed and hurt by the development. He noted that he had previously claimed that the matter was not over, adding that the party’s base was unhappy with the decision. Jha further claimed that he was attempting an improvised version of the “Shinde model”, but argued that the political environment of Bihar was different.
“BJP has always lied to its alliance partners”
Nana Patole, a Congress MLA from Maharashtra, slammed the BJP and accused it of “deceiving” its alliance partners after Kumar confirmed that he would file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections, according to ANI.
Speaking to reporters, Patole compared Kumar’s situation to that of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who did not return as chief minister after the Mahayuti alliance secured a majority in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections despite the BJP emerging as the single largest party.
He said, “Maharashtra is the biggest example. Elections were held under the leadership of Eknath Shinde and the government came to power, but Eknath Shinde did not become the chief minister. In Bihar, elections were held under the leadership of Nitish Kumar; they (BJP) won there too… Now he is removed from the post of chief minister,” he said, saying that all his partners had cheated.
Kumar first became the chief minister of Bihar in 2000, but his government fell within eight days. He returned to office in 2005 and remained in power until 2014 when he stepped down after the JD(U)’s poor performance in that year’s Lok Sabha elections. However, he was later sworn in again as the Chief Minister. He was last sworn in in November 2025. In Bihar, the Bharatiya Janata Party is a major partner in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
How BJP emerged as the single largest party in 2025 polls
The BJP consolidated its electoral performance by becoming the single largest party in Bihar for the first time, winning 89 of the 101 seats it contested in the 2025 polls. The NDA won 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, sweeping against the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan.
(With input from agencies)
