Nitish Kumar was born on 1 March 1951 (age 72 years) in Bakhtiarpur, Bihar. His zodiac sign is Pisces. He did his schooling from Shree Ganesh High School, Bakhtiarpur. He pursued his B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the Bihar College of Engineering in 1972. After completing his college, he joined the Bihar State Electricity Board. Although he did join the Bihar Electricity board, he did not wish to work there. The day he joined was his last day too; he worked there only for a day. He had always dreamed of coming into politics. Once in an interview, he said- “I am not in politics by fluke“. Nitish Kumar was interested in the political life and wanted to be a part of it.
Nitish Kumar Personal Life
| Full Name | Nitish Kumar |
| Date of Birth | 01 Mar 1951 (Age 72) |
| Place of Birth | Bakhtiarpur, Distt. Patna (Bihar) |
| Party Name | Janata Dal (united) |
| Education | Graduate |
| Profession | Social Worker Agriculturist, Engineer |
| Father’s Name | Late Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh |
| Mother’s Name | Parmeshwari Devi |
| Spouse’s Name | Manju Kumari Sinha |
| Children | 1 Son(s) |
| Religion | Hindu |
| Caste | Other Backward Class (Kurmi) |
| Permanent Address | village. Hakkitpur, post and thana- Bakhiatpur,Distric- Patna |
| Present Address | 22, Akbar Road New Delhi – 110 001 |
| Age | 72 years |
| Net Worth | ₹36.46 LAKHS |
Nitish Kumar: Birth, Family, and Education
| School | Shree Ganesh High School, Bakhtiarpur |
| College/University | Bihar College of Engineering, Patna |
| Educational | B.S.C in Electrical Engineering form Bihar College of Engineering |
Nitish Kumar was born on 1 March 1951 in Bakhtiarpur, Bihar to Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh (Father) and Parmeshwari Devi (Mother). His father was an ayurvedic practitioner.
Nitish Kumar is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Bihar College of Engineering (present-day NIT Patna). Before entering into politics, he was associated with Bihar State Electricity Board.
| Parents | Father : Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Sigh Mother : Parmeshwari Devi |
| Siblings | Brother : Satish Kumar (Elder) Sister : Parbha Devi (Younger) ,Indu Devi (Younger) ,Usha Devi (Elder) |
Nitish Kumar Wife & Children
| Marital Status | Widower |
| Wife/Spouse | Late Manju Kumari Sinha |
| Children | Daughter : None Son : Nishant Kumar |
Nitish Kumar Physical Stats
| Height | 5′ Feet 5″ Inches |
| Weight | 65 Kilogram |
| Eye Colour | Dark Brown |
| Hair Colour | White |
| Address | 1. Aney Marg, Patna, Bihar Village, Hakikatpur, PO -Bakhtiarpur, District- Patna Bihar |
| Caste | OBC (Kurmi) |
| Hobbies | Reading, Traveling |
Nitish Kumar: Political Career
In his early years, Nitish Kumar was associated with Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, S. N. Sinha, Karpuri Thakur and V. P. Singh. From 1974 to 1977, he participated in Jayaprakash Narayan’s movement and joined the Janata Party led by Satyendra Narain Sinha.
He briefly served as the Union Minister for Railways, Minister for Surface Transport, and the Minister for Agriculture. After the Gaisal train crash (2 August 1999), he resigned as the Union Minister of Railways. During his tenure as the Union Minister for Railways, he brought in widespread reforms including internal ticket booking facility (2002) and a tatkal scheme for instant booking of tickets.
Nitish Kumar contested from two constituencies (Nalanda and Barh) in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. He lost from his traditional constituency, Barh but won from Nalanda.
In March 2000, for the first time, he was elected as the Chief Minister of Bihar. In November 2010, he became the Chief Minister of Bihar for the second time. However, on May 17, 2014, he resigned from the Chief Ministerial post after his party performed poorly in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and took the moral responsibility of the party’s performance. He was succeeded by Jitan Ram Manjhi of Janata Dal (United).
In 2015, he was again elected as the Chief Minister of Bihar. When corruption charges levelled against Tejashwi Yadav (Deputy CM of Bihar), Nitish Kumar asked him to resign from the cabinet, to which RJD denied. Following the denial, Nitish Kumar resigned from the Chief Ministerial post on July 26, 2017, ending the Mahagathbandhan and joined principal opposition, the NDA. He again became the Chief Minister of Bihar and serves to date on this post.
| Period | Positions held |
| 1985-89 | Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly, from Harnaut |
| 1986-87 | Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Committee on Petitions |
| 1987-88 | President of Yuva Lok Dal (Bihar) |
| 1987-89 | Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Committee on Public Undertakings |
| 1989 | Secretary-General of Janata Dal (Bihar) |
| 1989 | Elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from Barh |
| 1989-1990 | Member of the House Committee |
| April 1990-November 1990 | Union Minister of State, Agriculture and Co-operation |
| 1991 | Re-elected to the 10th Lok Sabha |
| 1991-93 | General-Secretary of Janata Dal and Deputy Leader of Janata Dal in Parliament |
| 17 December 1991 – 10 May 1996 | Member of the Railway Convention Committee |
| 8 April 1993 – 10 May 1996 | Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture |
| 1996 | Re-elected to the 11th Lok Sabha. Member of the Committee on Estimates, Member of the General Purposes Committee and Member of the Joint Committee on the Constitution (Eighty-first Amendment Bill, 1996) |
| 1996-98 | Member of the Committee on Defence |
| 1998 | Re-elected to the 12th Lok Sabha |
| 19 March 1998 – 5 August 1999 | Union Minister of Railways |
| 14 April 1998 – 5 August 1999 | Union Minister of Surface Transport (additional charge) |
| 1999 | Re-elected to the 13th Lok Sabha |
| 13 October 1999 – 22 November 1999 | Union Minister of Surface Transport |
| 22 November 1999 – 3 March 2000 | Union Minister of Agriculture |
| 3 March 2000 – 10 March 2000 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
| 27 May 2000 – 20 March 2001 | Union Minister of Agriculture |
| 20 March 2001 – 21 July 2001 | Union Minister of Agriculture (additional charge of Railways) |
| 22 July 2001 – 21 May 2004 | Union Minister of Railways |
| 2004 | Re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha, from Nalanda. Member of the Committee on Coal & Steel, Member of the General Purposes Committee, Member of the Committee of Privileges and the Leader of Janata Dal (U) Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha |
| 24 November 2005 – 24 November 2010 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
| 2006 | Elected to Bihar Vidhan Parishad |
| 26 November 2010 – 17 May 2014 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
| 22 February 2015 – 19 November 2015 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
| 20 November 2015 – 26 July 2017 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
| 27 July 2017 – 16 November 2020 | Chief Minister of Bihar |
| 2018 | Elected to Bihar Vidhan Parishad |
| 16 November 2020 to Present | Chief Minister of Bihar |
Nitish Kumar: Awards
- Anuvrat Puraskar in 2017 for liquor ban in Bihar.
- JP Memorial Award in 2013.
- Ranked 77th in ‘Foreign Policy Magazine’ top 100 global thinkers 2012.
- XLRI, Jamshedpur Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal in 2011 for Industrial and Social Peace.
- MSN Indian of the Year 2010.
- NDTV Indian of the Year- Politics in 2010.
- Forbes’ India’s Person of the Year in 2010.
- CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Award- Politics in 2010.
- NDTV Indian of the Year- Politics in 2009.
- Economics Times Business Reformer of the Year in 2009.
- Rotary International Polio Eradication Championship Award 2009.
- CNN-IBN Great Indian of the Year- Politics in 2008.
Nitish Kumar Wife
On 22 February 1973, Nitish Kumar tied the knot with Manju Kumari Sinha. The couple gave birth to a son, Nishant Kumar. On 14 May 2007, Manju Kumari Sinha died in New Delhi due to pneumonia.
Nitish Kumar Facts
- When Nitish was in college, he was highly influenced by Jaiprakash Narayan, RamManohar Lohia, V P Singh, Karpoori Thakur, and S N Singh.
- There are two biographies which have been written about him. Nitish Kumar and the rise of Bihar by Arun Sinha and Single Man: The Life and Times of Nitish Kumar of Bihar by Sankarshan Thakur.
- His son, Nishant Kumar, in an interview once said that he does not have a good rapport with his father and the two of them don’t get along too well.
- Nitish Kumar is an Indian Politician and Chief Minister of Bihar since 2015 .
- He is the member of Janta Dal ( United )
Nitish Kumar Controversies
- In 2010, Kumar fired his Excise Minister Jamshed Ashraf. After being fired, Ashraf alleged that Kumar was involved in tax evasion on liquor which had caused the state a loss of more than 500 crores INR.
- In 2013, he announced to end the alliance with the BJP in Bihar as Narendra Modi was named as the PM candidate of the NDA. He was accused of being a turncoat and allegedly did this as he had personal differences with Modi.
- In 2015, he was highly criticized on allying with the Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD and Congress. He had opposed Lalu Prasad Yadav for a long time and had come to power in 2005 on the promise of getting the people of Bihar free from Lalu’s rule.
- In 2017, he broke the alliance with the Mahagathbandan and within 24 hours he formed the government in Bihar with the BJP. Many journalists and leaders called him an opportunist and stated that Kumar did this reportedly for the 2019 General elections.
- In 2017, several people questioned Kumar when it was revealed that his son, Nishant Kumar, was three times richer than him.
- On 9 June 2019, he announced that the JDU will not be a part of the NDA outside of Bihar. This reportedly came in after JDU was offered only a single Cabinet post in Narendra Modi’s cabinet. Kumar stated that it was insulting that his party won 16 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and was being offered only one Cabinet position.
Nitish Kumar Latest Update
Nitish Kumar was also a key figure in the Opposition’s INDIA bloc. His departure from INDIA is expected to impact the alliance of 28 Opposition parties just ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
But what had prompted Nitish Kumar to leave the INDIA bloc and join the NDA, even when in 2023 he had reportedly said, “Mar jaana qabool hai lekin unke (BJP) saath jaana humko kabhi qabool nahin hai (I’d rather die than tie up with them)”.
‘Born with golden spoon…’: Bihar Deputy CM’s jibe at Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Nitish Kumar
After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi mocked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for rejoining the NDA on Tuesday, deputy CM Vijay Sinha came out in defence of the CM. Sinha said that Rahul Gandhi ‘was born with a golden spoon in his mouth’ and that ‘he would never understand the pain of the public.’ “Those who spend time on the ground understand the situation,” Sinha said.
For More Updates Read : Bihar Deputy Chief Minister’s jab at Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Nitish Kumar, “Born with golden spoon!
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