Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar is a senior Indian politician and the present Chief Minister of Bihar. This is his fifth term at the office and he has served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from 2005 to 2014. Nitish Kumar is the member of the Janata Dal (United) Party and has served as the Union Minister of India. He has been credited for initiating series of developmental and infrastructural reforms in Bihar, one of the most backward states in the country. Appointment of teachers in schools, initiating and implementing healthcare reforms, cutting female illiteracy into half, re-laying of roads, keeping a check on crime in the state, doubling the income of the average Bihari are few of the developmental reforms initiated by him in the state of Bihar, making him one of the most popular leaders in the state. The cumulative growth rate of GDP during his tenure as the Chief Ministers is higher than other Chief Ministers of the country in the same period. On May 2014, after his party's poor performance in the 2014 General Elections, Nitish Kumar resigned from his post taking the responsibility for the party's performance and was succeeded by Jitan Ram Manjhi. He returned to office in February 2015 after winning the state elections in November 2015. This is his fifth tenure as the Chief Minister (3rd March 2000 - 10th March 2000, 2005-2010, 2010-2014, February 2015 - 19th November 2015 and 20th November 2015 till present). He was also elected as the National President of his party on 10th April 2016. His political career includes different important positions in the state as well as in the parliament and includes his membership in different committees at different point in time. Hailing from the family of Kurmi, Nitish Kumar was born on 1st March 1951 in a place called Bakhtiyarpur, 50km from Bihar's capital city - Patna. His father Ram Lakhan Singh was a well known figure in the area and he worked in ayurvedic medicine. His mother was Smt. Parmeshwari Devi. Nitish Kumar's father was freedom fighter and was close to one of the founders of modern Bihar and Bihar Vibhuti Shri Anugrah Narayan Sinha. Ram Lakhan Singh was a member of the Indian National Congress but he left the party after the party denied him the ticket in 1952 and 1957 General Elections. He later joined Janata Party. Nitish Kumar's ancestral home is in a village called Kalyanbigha, which is adjacent to Bakhtiyapur. He did schooling from Bakhtiyapur completing matriculation and later studied in Patna Science College. Thereafter he completed his degree course in Electrical Engineering from Bihar College of Engineering (now known as NIT Patna). After completing his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering, Nitish Kumar worked with Bihar State Electricity Board for some time before joining politics. Nitish was highly inspired by Jaiprakash Narayan which initiated his entry into active politics. In the year 1974 he demonstrated a key role in the JP movement and came in contact with some of the senior politicians of that time like Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Kapoori Thakur, Ram Manohar Lohia, V.P. Singh and George Fernandes. Nitish belongs to a socialist class of politicians. In 1977, he contested for the first time as a member of the Janata Party in the assembly elections. He was elected as the member of the legislative assembly of Bihar in 1985 and in 1986 he was the member of the committee on petitions in the Legislative Assembly of Bihar. From 1987 to 1988, Nitish Kumar was the president of the Lok Dal for the state of Bihar and in 1989 he became Janata Dal's Secretary General in Bihar. He was elected as the member of Lok Sabha for the first time in 1989 and was re-elected as a member of Lok Sabha for the second time in 1991. From 1991 to 1993 he was the general secretary of the Janata Dal and became the deputy leader of the party in Parliament. He also had the portfolio of the Union Miniter for Railways and Minister for Surface Transport under the NDA government lead by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998. He was appointed the Minister for Agriculture in 1998-99. As a Railway Minister, he brought reforms like internet ticket booking facility, opening a record number of railway ticket booking counters and introducing the Tatkal scheme for instant booking. In August 1999, taking the responsibility for the Gaisal Train Disaster he resigned as Minister of Railways. He held the post again from 2001 to May 2004. In 2004 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from two places. Though he was elected from Nalanda but lost from his traditional constituency of Barh. This was his sixth term as a member of Lok Sabha and he was the leader of the Janata Dala (U) in the parliament. In this term, he held memberships in General Purposes Committee, Committee on Coal and Steel, Committee on Privileges and Joint Committee on the Constitution. He became the Chief Minister of Bihar in November 2005 and continued as the CM till 2010. During this tenure, Nitish Kumar's government initiated the bicycle and meal program through which the government gave bicycles to girls who stayed in school which led to a considerable rise in the number of girls enrolled at the various government schools and reduced school drop out rates. In 2010, Nitish Kumar came back to power along with their allies of the time - Bharatiya Janata Party and on 26th November 2010 Nitish Kumar took the oath as a Chief Minister of Bihar. This was his second consecutive term as Chief Minister of Bihar. After the poor performance of the party in 2014 elections, Nitish Kumar resigned from the position of Chief Minister on 17th May 2014 and was succeeded by Jitan Ram Manjhi. Nitish Kumar again assumed office of the Chief Minister on 22nd February 2015. In the Bihar assembly elections of 2015, Nitish Kumar's JDU along with RJD and Congress formed the Mahagathbandhan to counter BJP in Bihar. The grand alliance won the assembly with a huge margin of 178 seats against 58 seats of BJP and its allies. He was sworn in as a Chief Minister on 20th November 2015 for a record fifth time. Nitish Kumar married Manju Sinha on 22nd February 1973. His wife was a teacher by profession and she died in 2007 when she was 53 years old. They have a son, Nishant who is a graduate from BIT Mesra. In 2007, CNN-IBN and Hindustan Times recognized him as the Best Chief Minister and in 2008, CNN-IBN honoured him as the Great Indian of the Year in political category. The Economic Times in 2009 recognized him as the Business Reformer of the year. In 2011, XLRI Jamshedpur bestowed him with "Sir Jehangir Gandhi Medal". The Foreign Policy Magazine ranked him 77 among the top hundred global thinkers. A non-smoker and teetotaler, Nitish Kumar's favourite pastimes include reading books and watching films. Of the many initiatives launched by him after his coming to term recently, the most famous and audacious ones remains of declaring Bihar a dry state.
Read More
                
Read Less

Nitish Kumar Photos ALL

Nitish Kumar Videos ALL

Nitish Kumar News

By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts Cookies Policy.