Another son rises in Bihar: JD(U) looks to Nishant after Nitish

The 49-year-old son of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar finally made to the headlines on Tuesday, 25 February. The somewhat reclusive Nishant issued his longest political statement, and arguably his first appeal in support of his father. Bihar observers believe this is the clearest signal that he is finally getting into active politics, and being groomed to helm the Janata Dal (United) after his father.

Not everyone is convinced, though, with some wondering if this was a case of being too little, too late. With the next assembly election due in October-November 2025, they point out, there is just no time for the relatively unknown son to make his mark.

"My father has worked for Bihar. Please vote for him. Last time JD(U) won only 43 seats in the assembly; make it many more in the 2025 assembly polls… the NDA should officially declare him (his father) the CM candidate for the 2025 polls," Nishant said at a programme in Smriti Park — created in memory of his mother Manju Devi — on Tuesday evening. Nishant also appealed to party workers to work hard to ensure victory for the NDA. 

Speculation about Nishant joining JD(U) and ultimately taking over from Nitish Kumar has been in the air for several months, but officially, the JD(U) is cautious and denies any such immediate possibility. "There is nothing wrong about a relative expressing his views," a JD(U) spokesperson said while ruling out any move by Nishant to formally join the party. However, there appears to be an understanding within the NDA that Nishant joining politics is inevitable.

"Everybody has a right to get into politics," philosophised RLD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha. "The stage has been set for Nishant to officially enter politics," said a JD(U) minister. Nishant's statement coming a day after the chief minister shared the stage with PM Narendra Modi in Bhagalpur, triggered the overactive political grapevine to claim that Nitish had taken the approval of PM Modi to induct his son into the party. In the past, both PM Modi and Nitish Kumar have been strong advocates against dynastic politics, people recalled.

Though Lalu Prasad, the late Ram Vilas Paswan and Nitish Kumar — all products of the JP Movement in Bihar in the mid-1970s — have opposed the Congress for its 'dynastic rule', both Paswan and Lalu Prasad actively promoted their sons as their successors, so that failed cricketer Tejashwi Yadav and failed actor Chirag Paswan both turned to politics. Nishant — said to have dropped out of the final engineering exam from BIT-Mesra — has, however shown no interest in politics even after his father took over as chief minister in 2005.

Instead, Nitish Kumar's media-shy and mild-mannered son kept his distance from even JD(U) leaders. In 2015, after the Mahagathbandhan won a spectacular victory in the assembly polls, Nishant was first spotted standing with Lalu Prasad’s children. The only words he uttered then was that he was not interested in politics. That explains why even JD(U) leaders seem to have been caught by surprise.

Nitish Kumar had broken off with Lalu Prasad quite early, forming the Samata Party in 1994; all through these years, he has had the support of Kurmis and Kushwahas, known as the 'Luv-Kush' combination in state politics and a section of extremely backward castes. Nitish Kumar's core support base may be smaller than either the RJD or BJP's, but he holds the balance between them. That explains why he remains the chief minister of Bihar, despite several political somersaults.

But his supporters are anxious over losing power in the 2025 polls, with the BJP believed to be aiming for its own man as chief minister. Bihar has never had a BJP chief minister in the past, and this time, the party wants to make amends. With a question mark over Nitish Kumar’s health and anti-incumbency working against JD(U), the future of the party has never looked more uncertain. The popular perception is that the party will split before or after the election, with its legislators going to either the BJP or RJD as per political convenience.

"The emergence of Nishant as a successor to Nitish can stop JD(U) falling apart and ensure that the party has a life after the 2025 assembly polls. It will stop the growing perception that Nitish is being `controlled by a handful of government officials and JD(U) leaders; Nishant, like Tejashwi and Chirag, will inherit his father's legacy," said another JD(U) minister on condition of anonymity, stressing that the party has never needed Nishant more.