Nitish Kumar Quits As Bihar CM: Timeline Of His Political U-Turns

Janta Dal Untied leader and eight times Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from the CM office on Sunday.

Janta Dal Untied leader and eight times Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from the CM office

Janta Dal United leader and eight times Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from the CM office on Sunday. Earlier in the day, Kumar had requested a meeting with the Governor. Media reports suggested that Kumar planned to submit his resignation to the Governor, ending his 18-month ruling coalition with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. 

Rumours were rife since the past week that Kumar is unhappy with the developments in the INDIA bloc and the position he was being offered in the multi-party alliance by the Opposition.

Nitish Kumar has a long history of switching loyalties with parties to remain in power. His, first switch came in 1998, when he switched to BJP from Samata Party he had formed with George Fernandes in 1996. He was made minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

In between 2000 and 2022, Kumar became Bihar's CM on eight occasions. Here's a timeline of political U-turns by Bihar's longest-serving chief minister Kumar that has earned him the reputation of "Paltu Ram" in India politics:

March 2000: He took oath for the first time on March 3, 2000, putting an end to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's rule. He was supported by the BJP. However, he was the CM for only seven days. In 2003, Nitish Kumar joined hands with Sharad Yadav (who was earlier with RJD) and formed the Janata Dal (United).

November 2005: Kumar took oath as Bihar CM with BJP's support and remained in power for five years.

November 2010: He again formed the government with BJP, but this time his reign lasted for just 3.5 years till May 19, 2014.
In 2013, he broke a 17-year alliance with NDA when the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi was projected as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for Lok Sabha Polls. 

February 2015: He formed the government wit the help of Lalu Prasad Yadav's party RJD. Kumar joined hands with RJD and Congress and returned as chief minister in 2015. However, he broke the alliance in 2017. That government completed its remaining term of eight months.

November 2015: He again took oath as Bihar CM with the help of RJD. That government lasted for 1 year and 8months.

July 2017: He again took oath as CM with the help BJP. This time his tenure lasted for 3 years, 3 months and 2 weeks.

November 2020: Kumar again took oath as Bihar CM with BJP's support. This time his tenure lasted till August 2022.

August 2022: Kumar again formed government and took oath as Bihar CM with the help of RJD and Congress. In 2022, Kumar again took oath as CM with RJD and Congress support. RJD leader and Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav took the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister. This time he broke ranks with BJP alleging that BJP was instigating JD-U MLAs to rebel against him. This lasted till Sunday (January 28, 2024)

Kumar is expected to take oath again as Bihar CM with the help of BJP.