Explained : Exit Nitish, enter Nishant: Another son-rise in Indian politics and Its Impact

Days after turning 75 on March 1 this week, Bihar’s longest serving Chief Minister Nitish Kumar stunned the world of Indian politics. The man, who had occupied the state CMO for over two decades barring a brief 2014 spell when Jitan Ram Majhi filled in for him, said he would now go to Rajya Sabha at the Centre.

Not one to act under duress as his past actions have shown, Nitish explained his move as a personal urge to be a member of the only chamber he had so far missed – the House of Elders. And that he had otherwise been a member of the Lok Sabha, Bihar Legislative Assembly and Bihar legislative council.

That said, the move continues to raise questions, especially given the timing.

The Janata Dal United chief’s decision to exit Bihar CMO and pave the way for the first-ever BJP chief minister in the eastern state came alongside son Nishant Kumar’s entry into politics. The concomitant events have prompted the query as to whether Nitish, a proclaimed anti-dynast, has finally retreated from the Bihar landscape so that his son could rise.

And though Nishant formally joined the JDU on Sunday amid rousing reception by JDU stalwarts union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh and national working president Sanjay Jha, party leaders insist that the son’s entry is not a matter of political motivation but one of natural political progression.

JDU strongman KC Tyagi, who has watched Nitish and his politics since 1980s, said had the CM been a dynast he would have installed Nishant into a prominent party role whenever he wanted.

But that was not the case because the time is now, Tyagi says, insisting also that Nitish’s decision to go to Rajya Sabha is his own and not a byproduct of political compulsion as opponents would like to project it.

Facts bear Tyagi out. Nitish Kumar’s political journey has been a saga of shock moves, each one adding to his strength. He did not think twice before splitting the Janata family in the mid-1980s when he sensed Lalu Yadav’s growing clout. That was when Nitish and late George Fernandes came together to form the Samata Party, aligned with the BJP and came to power – first at the Centre (when NDA won the 1998 Lok Sabha elections) and then in Bihar where a newly formed JDU together with the BJP ended Lalu Yadav’s unhindered 15-year reign by bagging a massive mandate in 2005.

Since then, Nitish has entered and exited alliances on his terms with his January 2024 return to the BJP-led NDA being the fifth flip flop since 2013 when he first broke away with the saffron fold over Narendra Modi’s anointment as the BJP’s PM candidate.

What has been remarkable about Nitish’s political career though is – his party JD (U) never won a majority in Bihar on its own but Nitish was always a permanent fixture in all winning alliances be it the Mahagathbandhan of RJD and Congress or the NDA.

Notwithstanding the nature of an alliance, Nitish Kumar was always CM. Even during the 2025 Bihar elections, Nitish prevailed and the BJP, despite emerging as the single largest party in the state in 2020 elections, went to polls under his leadership.

BJP sources admitted that Nitish Kumar was still the X factor in state politics, his record of governance and pro-women policies untainted and enduring.

So what has changed now for Nitish to renounce the CMO for Rajya Sabha. Nitish’s aides point to the JDU chief’s ill-health and his desire to oversee the party free from the trappings of power which take their own toll. Nitish also feels time is ripe for his son to take over.

In the background of course there’s the looming shadow of the senior NDA ally BJP which outperformed the JDU for the second time in the 2025 state elections.

JDU sources say the BJP allowed Nitish to take his own decision on the matter of transition of power which was long in the making.

Within the JDU in fact there are murmurs and anxieties around a possible merger with the BJP, though senior leaders say that is a far-fetched talk.

Meanwhile as the wheel of Bihar politics turns and the sun sets on Nitish era, focus has shifted to the BJP camp and on who the possible saffron successor to the JDU chief could be.

Whoever that will be, the BJP and JDU both know it would be hard to fill the shoes of Nitish Kumar, a master puppeteer who, his aides believe, may still have some surprises up his sleeves.

Like Pawan Verma, a long-time Nitish associate, quipped after the JDU veteran’s Rajya Sabha entry call: “Picture abhi baaki hai”. The country and Bihar are all eyes.