Naya Bihar emerges after Nitish era

THE filing of nomination papers by Nitish Kumar for the Rajya Sabha marks the end of not just his personal innings as a 10-time Chief Minister of Bihar — an unprecedented feat in the politically volatile state — but also of an ideological mould of politics characteristic of the state of Bihar. The immediate political realignments mark the BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi claiming its elder-partner status in the state.The demand for this status had been on the anvil since the last Assembly elections in 2020 when the BJP secured 74 seats in contrast to the JD(U)'s poor tally of 43 seats. Nitish had expressed his political anger at this drubbing as he saw the backdoor propping-up of Chirag Paswan as a device of slicing away his vote bank.No two political moments are the same — in 2025, it was an upbeat BJP with a tally of 89 seats and the JD(U) with 85. But by then, Nitish's health had failed him and the leadership of the JD(U) was left to loyal chieftains such as Sanjay Jha, who were very compatible with the central BJP command structures. Nitish was only an image of himself, propped up with deft administrative and political support.The media shied away from raising any fingers, notwithstanding the many gaffes in his stage-managed appearances. Nitish still did well on the posters and the elections were won on his ‘face’ (chehra) value as Chief Minister, signifying how hollow the arguments about 'chehre ki rajneeti' are.Just four months after the elections, there is this turn towards a naya Bihar, where the state will experience its first-ever BJP Chief Minister. The chehra might now shift on a minor note to Nitish's son Nishant Kumar. Nishant has never fought an election nor seen a political ‘sonrise’ in his father's long and dusty political career.What then is the meaning of this political turn in naya Bihar? And what portents does this hold for national politics?As far as Bihar is concerned, this marks the end of a long-drawn, binary political trajectory of Congressism followed by anti-Congressism.The Congress part of it goes back to the anti-colonial movement, with Gandhi having earned the status of Mahatma, toiling with the poor peasantry. Later, Babu Sri Krishna Singh emerged as a tall leader in the 1930s. In fact, Bihar is credited with being home to two stellar Congress chief ministers — Bidhan Chandra Roy who became Chief Minister of West Bengal and Sri Krishna Sinha of Bihar.The early years were marked by elite upper-caste competition within the Congress party — notably between the Bhumihars and the Rajputs. Sri Krishna Sinha, a Bhumihar, was replaced by Anugrah Narayan Sinha, a feudal Rajput leader. Kayasth and Muslim chief ministers were minor pieces in the Congress jigsaw.The main rupture came towards the end of the 1960s. The 1967 Assembly elections saw the end of the Congress dominance. No political party won a majority and a broad anti-Congress coalition government of the SVD (Samyukta Vidhayak Dal) came to power under Mahamaya Prasad Sinha.Around a decade later, as the Congress consolidated under Indira Gandhi, her loyalist Jagannath Mishra became the Bihar Chief Minister in 1975. Mishra was a Maithili Brahmin. He ascended to power even as his brother and Railway Minister Lalit Narayan Mishra was murdered in Bihar's Samastipur earlier the same year.After the Emergency, Karpoori Thakur became the Chief Minister of Bihar (1977-79 — and this was his second term). A noted socialist, Karpoori was a leader of the downtrodden and believed in the bottom-up approach to governance, where the extremely backward castes were prioritised in a Rawlsian premise for social justice.The acceptance of Karpoori's ideas and leadership remained weak, especially as the upper castes were wary of reservations and the Jan Sangha was anti-Congress, but did not have Mandal anywhere on its ideological horizon.The clear-cut rupture with Congress dominance and agadi jaatiyon ki rajneeti was effected after 1990 on the back of the fresh anti-Congress momentum led by Vishwanath Pratap Singh. Few are aware that VP Singh and Karpoori were in conversation, but the latter passed away before the maturity of the VP Singh experiment.Over three decades since the 1990s, when India has been home to neo-liberal economic experiments and pro-market political leaders in state-level arenas (notable among them being Chandrababu Naidu), Bihar has remained a citadel of pro-Mandal leaders trained under both Jayaprakash Narayan and Karpoori Thakur. The leading figures were brothers Bihari — Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar.Naya Bihar now marks the end of the chelas of Jayaprakash and Karpoori, their political mantle having been cast in stone now in various corners of the Gandhi Maidan.The new leaders are prominently those from within the BJP fold — Nitish Mishra (son of Jagannath Mishra), noted for his good behaviour and administrative acumen; Nitin Nabin (son of the late BJP leader Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha), noted for his down-to-earth karyakarta approach to political work, whether as Chhattisgarh Prabhari or his contribution during the state elections in Sikkim; and Nitya Nand Rai. There is also Vivek Thakur (son of CP Thakur), noted for his pleasant manner, diligent political groundwork and for establishing the BJP in the ravines of central Bihar. Another leader is the hardworking Ratnesh Kushwaha, who won the prestigious Patna Sahib seat.In the new milieu, there is a sunset of the old political ideologies and a quiet acceptance of a new crop of political leaders groomed under the leadership of the top political duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Bihar now awaits the command of this central leadership.

Naya Bihar emerges after Nitish era

Naya Bihar marks the end of the chelas of Jayaprakash Narayan and Karpoori Thakur

Manisha Priyam

Naya Bihar emerges after Nitish era

Naya Bihar marks the end of the chelas of Jayaprakash Narayan and Karpoori Thakur

Manisha Priyam

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