Janata Dal (U) workers and several senior leaders are putting pressure on Nitish Kumar in emotional ways.

Nitish Kumar's new decision is not untimely Editorial: It is only natural that the political speculation has started with a bang since Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha. Just two and a half months ago (in December 2025), the alliance of Janata Dal (United)+BJP+Lok Janshakti Party led by him had won a landslide victory in the Bihar assembly elections. This alliance had won 202 seats out of 243. From this, it was believed that Nitish Kumar would continue to play the innings of the Chief Minister. But he has decided to move away from state politics prematurely and go to the Centre. As has been his strategy so far, he neither shares his thoughts with his close political allies before the appropriate time nor allows the media to get a glimpse of his thinking. He has done the same now. In fact, after filing his papers for the Rajya Sabha seat in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he maintained the tradition of limiting his interactions with the media to a few words and not opening his mouth to anyone. The date for withdrawal of nominations for the Rajya Sabha is March 9. The elections will be held on March 16. It is clear that the suspense that has been created is not going to go away anytime soon.

Janata Dal (U) workers and several senior leaders are emotionally pressuring Nitish Kumar to stay on as Chief Minister for at least another year or two. But there is no possibility of Nitish taking such a step. There are even speculations that despite becoming a Rajya Sabha member, he will not accept any post in the central government but will gradually move away from active politics. One reason for this thinking is that he has been unwell for the last few years. The age of 75 is not considered very old in today's era, but speculations about Nitish Kumar's mental and physical condition have been a good part of the political debate in Bihar for the last two years. By bringing forward his son Nishant Kumar (50) as his political successor, he has put an end to the speculations about 'who will be the heir', but at the same time, he has once again given vent to the criticism that there is a big gap between 'saying and doing'. It is worth mentioning that Nitish Kumar's image as a clean administrator was maintained till now on the basis that he did not allow his family or relatives to come close to the corridors of power. His supporters and political analysts believe that there is not a single leader in the Janata Dal (United) who can understand the direction of the political wind or is Nitish Kumar's equal in terms of administrative competence. In such a situation, he has not committed any 'sin' by making his son his political successor; that too in a national context where familyism has been the main mantra of political succession for the last seven decades.

It is not an easy decision for a political leader who has ruled his state for more than two decades, has been sworn in as Chief Minister 10 times and has been a Union Minister three times to step down from the state government on his own accord. In fact, it is a bold step, especially considering that the next Chief Minister of Bihar will not be from the Janata Dal (U) but from the BJP. It is clear that Nishant Kumar is being made the Deputy Chief Minister. This will be done to equip him with administrative experience. If he takes guidance from his father while in this position, no one will object to it. There is apprehension being expressed from within the Janata Dal (U) and by leaders of other political parties that the political situation that is developing in Bihar indicates that the BJP will 'take over' the Janata Dal (U) in the future. In this context, reference is being made to the politics of Maharashtra where the BJP has been continuously weakening both its allies - Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP. Despite such setbacks, the fact cannot be ignored that Nitish Kumar has been consistently defeating not only Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) but also the BJP in the political arena of Bihar till now. Therefore, any prediction of his political future being a happy one would not only be unreasonable but also childish.