Nitish’s Son Nishant Thanks People, Dodges Query On Political Debut

Nishant has never contested an election and has remained away from public life, unlike the heirs of many political leaders.

The NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), LJP (RV) and two others, stormed back to power with 202 seats in the 243-member assembly.

Source : PTI

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar on Thursday thanked the people of the state for the "historic mandate", crediting women voters for their "special participation", but sidestepped questions on his own political debut.

His father took oath as the chief minister for a record 10th term.

"Gratitude and greetings to the people of Bihar. I extend my heartfelt thanks and congratulations…the way people have worked, the way women voted, their special participation, this is very significant for Bihar,” Nishant said, briefly interacting with journalists, including PTI video, at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, where the swearing ceremony was held on Thursday.

Asked when he would join politics, the 50-year-old smiled and left.

Nishant has never contested an election and has remained away from public life, unlike the heirs of many political leaders.

His father and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, who has governed Bihar for close to two decades and built a rare cross-caste female vote bank, was sworn in as the chief minister for a record 10th time.

The NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), LJP (RV) and two others, stormed back to power with 202 seats in the 243-member assembly.

The BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 89 seats, followed by JD(U)’s 85, while LJP(RV) secured 19, HAM-S 5 and RLM 4.

Election Commission data showed women outvoted men. Over 71 per cent of women turned out to vote against 62.9 per cent for men. In seven districts, women polled 14 percentage points higher, and in ten others, the gap exceeded 10 points, a trend NDA leaders described as the coalition’s decisive electoral edge.

Senior NDA functionaries attributed the “women’s mandate” to Nitish’s welfare-driven governance - from the 2016 prohibition policy, widely welcomed by women affected by alcohol-linked domestic violence, to large-scale financial assistance schemes in the run-up to the polls.

The previous NDA government transferred Rs 10,000 each to over 1.21 crore 'Jeevika Didis' to help them start micro-businesses, promising an additional Rs 2 lakh for their ventures.

The government, through the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS), an autonomous body, was spearheading a World Bank-aided project, locally known as JEEViKA, with the objective of social and economic empowerment of the rural poor. Women associated with the project are called 'Jeevika Didis'.

In a state often fractured along caste lines, JD(U) leaders said women emerged as the one constituency that cut across several barriers, a demographic that reshaped the poll verdict and anchored Nitish Kumar’s latest return to power. 

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)