Nitish announces Rajya Sabha foray, ending tenure as Bihar's longest-serving CM

Janata Dal United president Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced that he will contest the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections signalling the end of his tenure as the longestserving Chief Minister of Bihar The veteran leaderrsquos decision marks a significant political shift in the state where he has been at the helm for nearly two decades reported news agency PTIKumar who has served as chief minister for a record 10 terms since 2005 said he would continue to support the statersquos governance even after stepping aside from the top post He assured the people of Bihar that the new government formed in the state would have his ldquofull cooperation and guidancerdquoNitish Kumar thanks people of Bihar for decades of supportIn a post on X Nitish Kumar expressed gratitude to the people of Bihar for placing their trust in him for over two decades He credited the publicrsquos support for enabling his government to work towards the development and dignity of the stateldquoFor more than two decades you have consistently placed your trust and support in me and it is on the strength of that trust that we have served Bihar and all of you with complete dedicationrdquo Kumar said He added that the trust reposed in him by the people had helped Bihar achieve a new phase of development and progress reported PTILongstanding aspiration to enter Rajya SabhaExplaining his decision to contest the Rajya Sabha elections Kumar said it had been his longheld aspiration to serve in both Houses of Parliament as well as the state legislatureldquoFrom the very beginning of my parliamentary journey I wanted to become a member of both Houses of the state legislature and both Houses of Parliament In keeping with this aspiration I seek to become a member of the Rajya Sabha in the elections being held this timerdquo he said reported PTIKumar also assured citizens that his relationship with the people of Bihar would remain unchanged and that he would continue working for the statersquos developmentBJP leader likely to become Biharrsquos next chief ministerWith Kumar stepping aside after leading the ruling National Democratic Alliance NDA to a landslide victory in the assembly elections held in November last year a Bharatiya Janata Party BJP leader is now expected to take over as chief ministerIf that happens Bihar will witness its first BJP chief minister mdash making it the last Hindi heartland state where the party had not yet held the top postFive Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar are scheduled to go to the polls on March 16 with the deadline for filing nomination papers closing on Thursday Kumarrsquos election to the Upper House is considered almost certain given the NDArsquos strong numerical strength in the 243member state assemblyParty workers protest Nitish Kumarrsquos decisionHowever Kumarrsquos announcement triggered protests among some JDU workers A large number of party supporters gathered outside the chief ministerrsquos residence expressing dissatisfaction over his decision to move to the Rajya Sabha reported PTIState Sunni Waqf Board chairman and JDU leader Alhaj Mohammad Irshadullah said many party workers were unhappy with the development ldquoWhen I came to know about it it was a shocker He should have remained the chief ministerrdquo he said reported PTIRashtriya Janata Dal RJD leader Manoj Jha also questioned the move claiming the decision appeared to have been influenced by political developments in New Delhi reported PTISpeculation grows over Nishant Kumarrsquos political entryThe development comes amid growing speculation about the possible entry of Nitish Kumarrsquos son Nishant Kumar into active politics JDU leaders had earlier indicated that a formal announcement regarding Nishantrsquos political role could be made soon reported PTIRural Development Minister Shrawon Kumar recently said there had been increasing demands from party members and young supporters for Nishant to join public life Reports suggest that the engineering graduate who is in his 40s could even be considered for a key role in the new governmentRajya Sabha election arithmetic favours NDAThe Rajya Sabha elections will take place as the terms of JDUrsquos Harivansh Narayan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur RJDrsquos Prem Chand Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh and Rashtriya Lok Morcha RLM leader Upendra Kushwaha come to an endA candidate requires firstpreference votes from 41 MLAs to secure a seat The NDA currently holds a commanding majority in the 243member Bihar assembly with 202 MLAs including 89 from the BJP and 85 from the JDUThe BJP has already named its newly appointed state president Nitin Nabin and state general secretary Shivesh Kumar as candidates while also backing Kushwaha for another term in the Upper HouseUnion Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to attend the filing of nomination papers adding further political significance to the upcoming electionWith inputs from PTI