Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP president Nitin Nabin on Monday (March 30, 2026) resigned from the membership of the Bihar legislative Council and Assembly, respectively, and both leaders are likely to take oath as newly-elected members of the Rajya Sabha on April 10.
With Mr. Kumar’s resignation, all eyes are now set on who would be the next Chief Minister of Bihar. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, meanwhile, took a jibe over Mr. Kumar’s resignation and said he has not resigned but was “removed and deceived” by the BJP.Mr. Kumar’s brief resignation letter was later accepted by Council chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh and Mr. Nabin’s resignation was accepted by Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar. Mr. Nabin, who was party MLA from Bankipur constituency for five terms, was away from Patna and had sent his resignation latter to the the Assembly Speaker through BJP State president Sanjay Saraogi. Mr. Nabin also posted a long emotional message on social media on his political journey as an MLA from the constituency which, earlier, was also represented by his late father Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha for four terms.
Emotional post
Later, Mr. Nabin penned an emotional post on social media reminiscing his long association with the people of his constituency which was earlier represented by his father. Following his father’s sudden death in 2006, Mr. Nabin entered politics and represented the constituency five times.
Mr. Kumar and Mr. Nabin were elected to the Rajya Sabha
Rural Development Minister Shrawan Kumar, a JD(U) MLA considered close to the CM and who hails from Mr. Kumar’s home district of Nalanda, had earlier said that Mr. Kumar could “remain Chief Minister for the next six months, despite being elected to the Rajya Sabha”. JD(U) leader and Minister for Rural Works Department Ashok Choudhary told media persons, “Nitish Kumar was not only our leader in the House but a guardian also…it feels sad to know that he is heading to the Rajya Sabha as per his choice. Leaders like Mr. Kumar are rarely seen in Indian politics.”
With Mr. Kumar’s imminent exit as Chief Minister, several names have come up as likely successors, including Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar, Forest Minister Pramod Kumar Chandravanshi, MLAs Gayatri Devi, and Shreyasi Singh.
‘Shooting in the dark’
“Except the BJP’s top brass, nobody knows who would be made the next CM…all names circulating in the media are mere speculations,” a senior State JD(U) leader told The Hindu on the condition of anonymity.
State BJP leaders too echoed a similar line. “Everyone is shooting in the dark…nobody knows for sure,” quipped a party leader.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Leader of the Opposition, though took a jibe over the Chief Minister’s resignation as an MLC saying: “He has not resigned as CM but the BJP has removed him, deceived him and the people of Bihar. From the beginning, we (RJD) have been saying that Mr. Kumar would not remain the CM. After being in the post for a few months post election, he is now being removed by the BJP like the party did in Maharashtra…there is a huge difference between what the BJP says and does.”
earlier on March 16 from their respective party’s quotas. According to Constitutional provisions, the two leaders were supposed to step down from their membership of the respective Houses of the State legislature within a period of 14 days.
Among political circles, there is speculation that Mr. Kumar would resign as Chief Minister after taking oath in the Rajya Sabha on April 10.
