Nitish Kumar
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Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician from Bihar. He is currently serving as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. The national president of the Janata Dal (United), he was the longest serving Chief Minister of Bihar, serving briefly in 2001, from 2005 to 2014, and again from 2015 to 2026. Kumar first entered politics as a member of the Janata Dal, becoming an MLA in 1985. A socialist, Kumar founded the Samata Party in 1994 along with George Fernandes. In 1996, he was elected to the Lok Sabha, and served as a Union Minister in the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with his party joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). In 2003, his party merged into the Janata Dal (United), and Kumar became its leader. In 2005, the NDA won a majority in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, and Kumar became chief minister heading a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the 2010 state election, the governing coalition won re-election in a landslide. In June 2013, Kumar broke with the BJP after Narendra Modi was named as their candidate for prime minister, and formed the Mahagathbandhan, a coalition with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Indian National Congress (INC) and joined in United Progressive Alliance (UPA). On 17 May 2014, Kumar resigned as chief minister after the party suffered severe losses in the 2014 general election, and was replaced by Jitan Ram Manjhi. However, he attempted to return as chief minister in February 2015, sparking a political crisis that eventually saw Manjhi resign and Kumar become chief minister again. Later that year, the Mahagathbandhan won a large majority in the state election. In 2017, Kumar broke with the RJD over corruption allegations and returned to the NDA, leading another coalition with the BJP; at the 2020 state election his government was narrowly reelected. In August 2022, Kumar left the NDA, rejoining the Mahagathbandhan; he would also become a founding member of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. In January 2024, Kumar again left the Mahagathbandhan and rejoined the NDA, with the government winning the 2025 state election in a landslide. In March 2026, Kumar announced his pending resignation as chief minister and intention to contest the 2026 Rajya Sabha elections, which he won. And finally on 10 April 2026, he was sworn in as the Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.