Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to step down from his post after resigning from the Legislative Council on March 30, according to sources familiar with the development. The move comes after he won the Rajya Sabha election on March 16. As per the Constitution, an individual cannot hold membership of two Houses simultaneously, which makes it mandatory for him to relinquish one position within 14 days.
Nitish Kumar elected to Rajya Sabha
On March 16, Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister Nitish Kumar was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state. Of the total 37 vacancies of Rajya Sabha, elections were held for only 11 seats in Bihar, Odisha and Haryana as the rest of the members were earlier elected unopposed. In a post on X, Kumar had thanked the people of Bihar for supporting him for more than two decades, saying their trust had enabled him to serve the state with dedication. He said it was the strength of this public support that helped Bihar move towards a new phase of development and dignity.
“For more than two decades, you have consistently placed your trust and support in me, and it is on the strength of that trust that we have served Bihar and all of you with complete dedication. It was the power of your trust and support that has enabled Bihar today to present a new dimension of development and dignity. For this, I have expressed my gratitude to you many times in the past as well. From the very beginning of my parliamentary journey, there has been a desire in my heart to become a member of both Houses of the Bihar Legislature as well as both Houses of Parliament. In keeping with this aspiration, I seek to become a member of the Rajya Sabha in the elections being held this time,” he said.
Nitish Kumar elected JD (U) president
It is worth noting that Kumar was elected JD (U) president unopposed on Tuesday (March 24) with no other candidate filing nomination for the party’s top post. The Bihar CM had been serving as the party’s president since Lalan Singh resigned from the post ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in December 2023. Returning officer Aneel Prasad Hegde, a former Rajya Sabha MP, announced Kumar’s election as the JD (U) chief and handed over the certificate of his election to party’s working president Sanjay Kumar Jha and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh at the party’s central office in New Delhi.
