Caste Equation and the BJP’s Long Wait :::: Sushasan Babu Nitish Kumar’s Report Card :::: Bihar remains one of India’s poorest states :::: Consolidation in Indian Politics

By Nirendra Dev 

Sushasan Babu’s Report Card

The governance record is mixed. Bihar unquestionably improved under Nitish — infrastructure expanded, law and order stabilised, and the state shed some of its BIMARU-era reputation. Yet Bihar’s per capita income stood at just ₹32,227 ($351) in the year ending March 2024, compared to the national average of ₹1,06,744 ($1,165). 

Bihar remains one of India’s poorest states even as it wields outsized national political influence, sending 40 members to the 543-seat Lok Sabha from a population of approximately 127 million.  

Bihar’s tryst with destiny has produced another twist. It rarely disappoints.

As Bihar prepares for its next chapter, one conclusion is hard to avoid. 

Nitish Kumar’s carefully managed exit — on his own terms, into the Rajya Sabha, with his legacy intact — sends a powerful signal about the consolidation of power in Indian politics. 

It is also reasonable to conclude that Nitish Kumar’s departure from Bihar’s executive politics has further reinforced Narendra Modi’s grip on the national political landscape.  

Nitish Kumar’s filing of the nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha election — marks the quiet close of a 21-year chapter in Bihar’s politics. The man Bihar came to know as Sushasan Babu, the good governance chief minister, was also never far from his other nickname: Poltu Ram, the master of political somersaults.

The Pivot That May Have Changed Indian History

Many political observers argue that the outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would have been fundamentally different had Nitish Kumar stayed with the opposition INDIA bloc. 

His decision to walk back into the arms of the Modi-Shah duo on the eve of the general elections — at precisely the moment the BJP was haemorrhaging seats across Uttar Pradesh — is widely regarded as the single biggest blow the opposition suffered that cycle. Most fingers pointed at Rahul Gandhi’s handling of the alliance, but Nitish’s defection remains the inflection point.  

Political Lineage

Bihar has never lacked for dramatic political figures. Jayaprakash Narayan brought down Indira Gandhi’s government. Karpoori Thakur defined the politics of social justice. Lalu Prasad Yadav ran the state for 15 years before a fierce anti-incumbency wave swept him out in 2005. Nitish Kumar then took over — and has now completed nearly the same 21-year stretch that once doomed Lalu.

RJD’s Manoj Jha has already made a pointed tongue-in-cheek reference to a Venezuela-style episode unfolding in Bihar. The parallel is hard to miss.

The Caste Equation and the BJP’s Long Wait

Bihar is one of India’s most caste-conscious political theatres, and Hindutva politics has found fertile ground here. Yet caste arithmetic alone never delivered BJP its own chief minister in the state. Even in the November 2025 assembly elections, 

it was Nitish Kumar — a Kurmi leader from a non-dominant caste — who served as the NDA’s face, and his personal image delivered the numbers.

“The new chief minister of Bihar will be from the BJP and the party’s parliamentary board will soon decide the candidate,” BJP national spokesperson RP Singh has confirmed.

Having a BJP chief minister in Bihar would represent a milestone comparable to the party’s breakthrough in Tripura. 

The road to that milestone, ironically, has been paved by Nitish Kumar himself.

There is also the matter of his son Nishant Kumar, for whom a deputy chief minister’s role is being speculated — though clarity on his political positioning remains elusive.

(Courtesy - The Raisina Hills) 

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