Nitish Kumar, Bihar's longest serving chief minister, has filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha, effectively resigning as the chief minister of the state. The next chief minister will likely be from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the senior partner in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state.
Kumar's 20 plus years in office have been marked by significant milestones, including his alliance with the BJP, which helped him retain his social justice character while outsourcing upper-caste courting to the BJP. This alliance has led to an increase in the representation of non-Yadav OBCs and upper-caste MLAs in the Bihar assembly compared to the Lalu years.
However, Kumar's legacy is also marred by the poverty of 'good governance' under his rule. While he made significant strides in economic growth, Bihar remains one of the poorest states in the country, with Biharis continuing to lag behind their peers in terms of per capita GSDP and average consumption levels.
Kumar's last election victory came on the back of a cash transfer to women in the state, which was a significant indictment of the upward mobility efficacy of the acceleration in per capita GSDP growth under him from 2005 to 2025.
