Nitish Kumar's Rise from Brief Tenure to Record 10th Term as Bihar CM
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Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set to take oath for the 10th time on Thursday, marking a remarkable comeback from his short-lived first stint as CM in 2000. Kumar was unanimously elected leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) legislature party on Wednesday and will be sworn-in at a grand ceremony in Patna. The NDA secured an impressive win in the recent Bihar assembly election, winning 202 out of 243 seats. Twenty-five years ago, Kumar's tenure as CM lasted just about a week, following a hung verdict in the February 2000 assembly election. The Janata Dal (United) leader was backed by 151 NDA and allied MLAs, but the RJD, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, protested the appointment. A week of intense political maneuvering ensued, but neither side could muster the required numbers, leading to the collapse of Kumar's government on March 11, 2000. Fast forward to today, Kumar, now 75, is set to begin another term, framing it as a continuation of his development-centric governance model, which he says began in 2006 and will now be accelerated with 'central support.' With the NDA's commanding majority and familiar governing partners, Kumar steps into a new term, carrying both the weight of his political past and the expectations of a state he has led, left, and returned to multiple times over a quarter century.
