Nitish Kumar Biography

About Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar, a senior Indian politician, is the present Chief Minister of the state of Bihar, India. He has held the position since 2005. Nitish Kumar is a member of the Janata Dal (United) Party and has served as a Union Minister of India. He has won accolades as Chief Minister for his efforts in developing and implementing several activities, including construction of bridges that were long due, re-laying roads, ensuring participation of doctors in primary health centers, controlling crime rate, and many more. He has successfully appointed more than one lakh school teachers during his tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar. His career graph as an Indian politician reveals that he has held different important positions in the state as well as in the Parliament. His tenure includes memberships in different committees at different point of time.

Detailed personal background of Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar was born on 1 March 1951 in a place called Bakhtiyarpur, at a distance of 50 km from Patna, the capital city of Bihar. He hails from a Kurmi family. His father, Shri Ram Lakhan Singh, worked in ayurvedic medicine and was a well known figure in the area; his mother was Smt. Parmeshwari Devi. His ancestral home is in a village called Kalyanbigha, which is adjacent to Bakhtiyarpur. He did his schooling in Bakhtiyarpur from Ganesh High School, completing matriculation. He was quite sharp and intelligent as a student. He studied in Patna Science College after matriculation. Thereafter he completed a degree course in electrical engineering from Bihar College of Engineering (now known as NIT Patna).

On 22 February 1973 he married Smt. Manju Sinha, who is by profession a teacher. His wife died in the year 2007 when she was 53 years old. They have a son Nishant, a graduate from BIT Mesra. Nitish Kumar is a teetotaler and a non-smoker. His favourite pastimes include reading books and watching films.

Nitish Kumar's professional background and entry in politics

After completing electrical engineering, Nitish Kumar worked with Bihar State Electricity Board for some time before joining politics.

Nitish Kumar’s father Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh was a freedom fighter. He was close to one of the founders of modern Bihar, a great Gandhian and Bihar Vibhuti Shri Anugrah Narayan Sinha. Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh was a member of the Indian National Congress for some time but left the party when his candidature in general elections held in 1952 and 1957 was denied. He later joined the Janata Party. Nitish Kumar was highly inspired by Jaiprakash Narayan, which saw his entry into active politics in the year 1974 when he demonstrated a key role in the JP movement. He came in contact with some of the then stalwarts of Indian politics, like Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Karpoori Thakur, Ram Manohar Lohia, V.P. Singh and George Fernandes.

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Political Journey so far

• In 1977, he contested for the first time in the assembly elections as a member of the Janata Party.
• From 1985 to 1989, he was the elected member of the Legislative Assembly of Bihar.
• From 1986 to 1987 he was the member of the Committee on Petitions in the Legislative Assembly of Bihar.
• He became the President of the Lok Dal from 1987 to 1988 in the state of Bihar.
• From 1987 to 1989 he was the member of the Committee on Public Undertakings in the Legislative Assembly of Bihar.
• In 1989 he became the Janata Dal’s Secretary General in Bihar.
• In 1989 he was elected as member of the 9th Lok Sabha for the first time.
• From April 1990 to November 1990 he was the Union Minister of State, looking after Agriculture and Cooperation.
• In 1991 he was elected for the second time as member of the 10th Lok Sabha.
• From 1991 to 1993 he was the General Secretary of the Janata Dal. He also became the Deputy Leader of the party in Parliament.


• From 17 December 1991 to 10 May 1996 he was the member of the Committee on Railway Convention.
• From 8 April 1993 to 10 May 1996, he was the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.
• In 1996 he was elected for the third time a member of the 11th Lok Sabha.
• During this term, he held memberships in General Purposes Committee, Committee on Estimates, Committee on Defense, and Joint Committee on the Constitution.
• In 1998 he was elected for the fourth time as part of the 12th Lok Sabha.
• From 19 March 1998 to 5 August 1999, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Railways.
• From 14 April 1998 to 5 August 1999, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Surface Transport.
• In 1999 he was elected as member of the 13th Lok Sabha. This was his fifth election to the Lok Sabha.
• From 13 October 1999 to 22 November 1999 he was the Union Cabinet Minister for State Transport.
• From 22 November 1999 to 3 March 2000, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Agriculture.
• On 3 March 2000 he became the Chief Minister of the state of Bihar and held the position for seven days, till 10 March 2000.
• From 27 May 2000 to 20 March 2001, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Agriculture.
• From 20 March 2001 to 21 July 2001 he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Agriculture and Railways (additional charge).
• He was the Union Cabinet Minister for Railways from 22 July 2001 till 21 May 2004.
• In 2004 he was elected for the sixth term as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha. He was the Leader of the Janata Dal (U) in Parliament.
• In this term, he held memberships in General Purposes Committee, Committee on Coal and Steel, Committee on Privileges, and Joint Committee on the Constitution.
• From 24 November 2005 to 24 November 2010, he was the Chief Minister of Bihar.
• From 26 November 2010 to 17 May 2014, he served as the 32nd Chief Minister of Bihar.
• On 22 February 2015, he has appointed as the 34th Chief Minister of Bihar.

Contributions and achievements as Chief Minister of Bihar

• The Jankari Scheme, which is the electronic version of the RTI Act, was developed in the state.
• An NREGS program called E-Shakti was launched, with the help of which the employment information can be gathered by rural people over telephone.


• Infrastructural developments including roadways and bridges were successfully implemented.
• Crime rate reduced significantly.
• Scores of criminal prosecutions were held through fast-track courts under his governance.
• A mandatory weekly meeting was initiated by the government with District Magistrates to keep an account of the progress in the rural areas.
• Over one lakh teaching staffs were appointed.
• Employment in police services was generated.
• The government under his leadership initiated meals and bicycle programs. Bicycles were given to those girls who stayed in school. This move saw a high number of girls joining school and also witnessed a fall in the dropout rate of girls in school.
• For the first time in India, the Bihar government under his leadership initiated 50% electoral reservation for women and backward castes.
• Free medicine distribution and other health schemes were launched in rural hospitals.
• National banks were involved in different loan schemes for the farmers.
• The state recorded the second-highest GSDP growth in the country.
• The Nalanda International University project was initiated by former President of India Dr. Abdul Kalam and Nitish Kumar. The Prime Minister of India headed the project.
• During his tenure as a CM, Bihar's law-and-order situation improved, crime reduced significantly.
• Bihar's average economic growth was impressive and so was industrial job creation.
• Bihar witnessed the second highest reduction in poverty.
• Improvement in governance led to better implementation of welfare schemes

Recognitions and Awards

• Hindustan Times and CNN-IBN recognized him as the Best Chief Minister in 2007.
• In 2008 CNN-IBN honoured him as Great Indian of the Year in Politics.
• He received the Polio Eradication Championship Award from the Rotary Internationals.
• The Economic Times in 2009 recognized him as the Business Reformer of the Year.
• In 2009 NDTV mentioned him as the Indian of the Year in Politics.
• In 2010 CNN-IBN honoured him with the Indian of the Year Award in Politics.
• In 2010, the Forbes declared him India’s Person of the Year.
• In 2010 NDTV mentioned him as the Indian of the Year in Politics.
• In 2010 he was the MSN Indian of the Year.
• In 2011 XLRI Jamshedpur bestowed him with "Sir Jehangir Gandhi Medal".
• The Foreign Policy magazine ranked him 77 among the top hundred global thinkers.
• Manav Mandir of Nagpur honoured him with the JP Memorial Award in 2013.

Strategy for 2015 Assembly Elections

Nitish Kumar became the first Bihar Chief Minister to launch poll campaign on social media. He has started leveraging Facebook and Twitter to list the achievements of the government in last decade and answer questions ahead of assembly polls. He has decided to highlight NDA's 'double standard' as the government at the centre has denied Bihar the special category status promised by Narendra Modi during 2014 general elections. In a bid to woo the Bihari diaspora and connect with Bihari migrants, Nitish Kumar is launching 'Bihar Samman Sammelan' in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities.