The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) looked set for a huge win in Bihar, with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on track for his fifth straight term.
NDA has already crossed 200 seats out of 243 seats much better than their 2020 tally of 122. Kumar’s run as chief minister is already the longest in the state’s history. Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan was ahead in just 38 seats, and Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party hadn’t managed to win any.
As Bihar’s 2025 assembly election results start rolling in, everyone’s watching Nitish Kumar. He’s been the chief minister longer than anyone else in the state, and honestly, he’s still the guy everyone talks about when it comes to Bihar politics. No matter how much things shift, Nitish always finds a way to stay right in the middle of it all. That’s been true for more than twenty years now.
Nitish first took over as chief minister back in 2000. Since then, he’s steered Bihar through all kinds of coalition governments, sometimes teaming up with the BJP, other times joining forces with the RJD. He’s got this reputation for switching sides.
Some people call him a “flip-flopper,” but, if you look at it differently, you see someone who just refuses to fade away, no matter what the political weather’s like.
#WATCH | #BiharElection2025 | Hoarding with “Bihar Ka Matlab Nitish Kumar” comes up near CM residence in Patna as NDA leads on 185 seats as per the EC trends. JD(U) is leading on 81 seats.
Counting continues. pic.twitter.com/6Mns6Fn1Rx
— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2025
Nitish Kumar’s story starts in Bakhtiyarpur, 1951. He got his start in the thick of the JP Movement in the ‘70s, a time when a lot of future socialist leaders, like Lalu Prasad Yadav, were coming up. He jumped into electoral politics in the ‘80s, winning his first assembly seat from Harnaut in 1985, then moving on to Parliament for Barh and Nalanda.
As chief minister, he built a name for himself as a pro-development guy, someone who wanted to fix Bihar’s bad reputation for “jungle raj.” Roads, electricity, schools, women’s empowerment, law and order he pushed for all of it. People started to see Bihar differently in the 2000s, and that was mostly because of his focus.
Patna, Bihar: A poster was put up outside CM Nitish Kumar’s residence with the message ‘Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai’ pic.twitter.com/lzQnu8Zeyg
— IANS (@ians_india) November 14, 2025
Nitish Kumar- The Main Character
Now he’s in his seventies, but he’s still the main character in Bihar’s political drama. Whether he’s with the NDA or the Opposition, his moves keep changing the game.
Since 2006, he’s chosen to sit in the Bihar legislative council instead of fighting assembly elections directly pretty unusual move for someone running the show.
Nitish’s journey is basically a series of sharp turns and quick calculations. In 2013, he walked out on the BJP after Narendra Modi became the party’s big face. He joined hands with Lalu’s RJD and Congress for the 2015 elections, putting together the Mahagathbandhan.
Nitish Kumar, a Kurmi (around 2% of Bihar’s population), has managed to stay CM for nearly 20 years in a state where caste politics runs deep, his political survival skills are on another level, truly the Chanakya of Bihar Politics #NitishKumar pic.twitter.com/18oPOa0shA
— Prayag (@theprayagtiwari) November 14, 2025
But by 2017, he switched right back to the NDA, blaming corruption in the RJD, and took the oath as chief minister again.
Fast forward to 2020. The NDA, with Nitish on board, scraped through with a narrow win in Bihar’s 243-seat assembly. Thing is, JD(U) only got 43 seats while the BJP picked up 74. That kind of imbalance started to shake things up within the alliance. The next twist? In August 2022, Nitish ditched the BJP-led NDA again, resigned as CM, and joined forces with the RJD, Congress, and Left parties to form the Grand Alliance, putting Tejashwi Yadav in the deputy seat.
Not done yet. In January 2024, just before the Lok Sabha elections, he turned around again—left the opposition INDIA bloc, went back to the NDA, and took the chief minister’s oath for a record ninth time. If you’re keeping score, that’s a lot of U-turns, but he’s still standing.
How Nitish Kumar helped in Bihar’s transformation: The Sushasan Babu Era
Nitish Kumar changed the way people saw Bihar. For years, the state struggled with bad roads, unreliable electricity, and a reputation for lawlessness.
Then Nitish came in and flipped the script. He focused on building roads, bringing electricity to villages, improving schools, and making life better for women. That’s how he got the nickname “Sushasan Babu”, the good governance guy. Women, especially, started backing him in a big way.
He didn’t stop there. Nitish also built a strong connection with the Extremely Backward Classes, a group that usually stands by him no matter which party he teams up with.
These voters trust him, and that loyalty gives him real power. Even when his party, JD(U), can’t win on its own, Nitish ends up calling the shots. Both the NDA and the INDIA bloc need him on their side, and everyone knows it.
Here’s a quick look at the positions he’s held over the years:
He started out contesting assembly polls in 1977 as a Janata Party candidate.
From 1985 to 1989, he was in the Bihar Assembly for his first term.
He served on the Committee on Petitions (1986–87) and led the state’s Yuva Lok Dal (1987–88).
He worked on the Committee on Public Undertakings (1987–89), then became Janata Dal’s Secretary General in 1989.
That same year, he won his first term in Parliament (Lok Sabha) and served on the House Committee (1989–90).
In 1990, he became Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Co-operation, serving until November that year.
He won Lok Sabha again in 1991, acted as Janata Dal’s General Secretary (1991–93), and was named Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha.
He joined the Railway Convention Committee (1991–96), chaired the Agriculture Committee (1993–96), and won another Lok Sabha term in 1996.
He was part of the Committee on Estimates, the General Purposes Committee, and the Joint Committee on the Constitution, and served on the Committee on Defense (1996–98).
He won Parliament again in 1998, his fourth term and became Union Cabinet Minister for Railways (1998–99). He also handled the Surface Transport portfolio for a while.
Is Nitish Kumar’s son all set for his political debut after Bihar elections?
With Phase 2 of the Bihar Assembly Election 2025 coming up on November 11, the energy on the ground has picked up, especially after the big turnout in the first round. Both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan seem pretty confident right now. The ruling alliance is calling this a vote for development, while the Opposition is framing it as a push for change.
Everyone’s keeping an eye on November 14, when the results will come out. Both sides are already thinking about what comes next, whether they win or lose.
In the middle of all this, there’s plenty of talk about Nitish Kumar will he stay on as Chief Minister if the NDA holds on? And what about his son Nishant Kumar? Is he finally stepping into politics?
As the NDA heads toward a landslide in Bihar 2025, all attention is on Nitish Kumar’s son, Nishant Kumar, making his political debut.
#NishantKumar #NitishKumar #BiharElections2025 #BiharResultOnNewsX #NDALandslide #BiharPolitics #ElectionResults #BiharResultOnNewsX pic.twitter.com/N2hdueAGWG
— NewsX World (@NewsX) November 14, 2025
JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha addressed these questions head-on. He said that if Nitish Kumar wants his son to make his political debut after the election, the party will back the decision. According to Jha, since Nitish Kumar founded the party, it’s really his call to make, but it also depends on whether Nishant is interested.
“This party exists because of Nitish Kumar. After the election, whatever he decides about his son, that’s up to him. One thing’s for sure if Nitish Kumar says yes, the whole party will support it,” Jha said.
Jha added that if Nishant joins the party and gets involved, people will welcome him. “If he comes in, party workers will be happy about it,” he said.
That’s just a slice of a career that’s seen more twists and turns than most. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar isn’t just a politician, he’s the guy everyone watches, waiting to see what he’ll do next.
ALSO READ: All Eyes On Nitish’s Son Nishant Kumar’s Political Debut As NDA Heads For Landslide Victory
