Nitish Kumar Wiki, Age, Caste, Wife, Family, Biography

Nitish Kumar is a prominent Indian politician. He is from the Janata Dal-United (JDU). Nitish Kumar is the Chief Minister of Bihar and has served as the CM for 5 times in the past. He has also served as a Union Minister.

Nitish Kumar Wiki/Biography

Nitish Kumar was born on 1 March 1951 (age 68 years; as in 2019) 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“. He was interested in the political life and wanted to be a part of it.

Physical Appearance

Height: 5′ 8″

Weight: 75 kg (approx)

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: White

Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar Family

Nitish Kumar was born in an OBC (Kurmi) Family. His father, Ram Lakhan Singh, was an ayurvedic practitioner. His mother, Parmeshwari Devi, was a homemaker. He has a brother, Satish Kumar. He has three sisters, Usha Devi, Indu Devi, and Prabha Devi.

Nitish Kumar With His Mother Parmeshwari Devi

Nitish Kumar’s Elder Brother Satish Kumar

Nitish Kumar was married to Manju Kumari Sinha on 22 February 1973. They have a son together, Nishant Kumar. His wife passed away on 14 March 2007 at the age of 53, after a prolonged illness at Max Hospital, New Delhi. She was a teacher in a Government high school.

Nitish Kumar With His Wife Manju Kumari Sinha

Nitish Kumar With His Son Nishant Kumar

Nitish Kumar Political Career

In 1971, Kumar became a member of the Samajwadi Yuvajan Sabha; youth wing of Ram Manohar Lohia’s movement. In 1974, he joined the JP movement but was arrested under the Internal Security Act. In 1975, he was arrested during the Emergency. He contested the 1977 Bihar Assembly elections for the first time as a member of the Janata Party but lost. In 1985, he contested the Bihar Assembly elections again and won. He was appointed as the state president of the Lok Dal in 1987.

Nitish Kumar With Leaders of Janata Party

In 1989, Kumar was appointed as the General Secretary of the Janata Dal in Bihar. In the same year, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Barh Lok Sabha Constituency of Bihar. He was appointed as the Union Minister of Agriculture and Cooperation from April 1990 to November 1990. In 1991, he was elected as an MP for the second time and appointed as the General Secretary of the Janata Dal. Kumar was also chosen as the deputy leader of the Parliament. He was involved in the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report and emerged as an icon of social justice.

Nitish Kumar On His First Day As Union Minister

In 1995, he started the Samata Party with George Fernandes to compete against Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Bihar Assembly elections. His party could win only 6 seats. Nitish contested the Lok Sabha elections of 1996 and was elected as an MP. He won again in 1998 and 1997. He was appointed as the Union Minister of Railways, Surface Transport Minister, and Agriculture Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government.

Nitish Kumar With George Fernandes

In 2000, the Janata Dal-United (JDU) contested the Bihar Assembly elections and won. Kumar became the Chief Minister of Bihar for seven days but quit just before facing a no-confidence motion in the Bihar Assembly. In 2004, he was elected as an MP and became the leader of the JDU in Parliament. In November 2005, the JDU along with the BJP won the Bihar Assembly elections with a majority and ended the 15-year rule of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD. Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar and NDA came into power in Bihar.

Nitish Kumar Being Sworn In As Bihar CM

The NDA won again in 2010 with a huge majority. Kumar was sworn in as the CM for the 3rd time. In 2013. when it was announced that Narendra Modi would be the Prime Ministerial candidate for the NDA, he broke his the alliance. In 2014, when the NDA won the Lok Sabha elections with a landslide victory, Kumar took responsibility of the defeat and resigned as the Chief Minister of Bihar. He made Jitan Ram Manjhi the CM.

Nitish Kumar With Jitan Ram Manjhi

Soon after Manjhi was sworn in as CM, differences cropped up between Manjhi and Nitish. They started escalating a lot and soon Nitish had to campaign to get Manjhi removed from the post of the CM. In 2015, he entered an alliance with the RJD and the Indian National Congress (INC). It was termed as the Mahagathbandhan and they won the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections. Kumar was sworn in as the CM for the fifth time. On 27 July 2017, he broke his alliance from the Mahagathbandan after Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted in the fodder scam. He entered an alliance with the BJP once again for the Bihar Assembly elections. The NDA won in Bihar and Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister for the 6th time in his career.

Nitish Kumar With Narendra Modi

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.

Address

1 Anne Marg, Sachiwalya, Patna, Bihar

Car Collection

Nitish Kumar owns a Ford Ecosport (2015 Model)

Assets & Properties

Movable Assets: 16.49 Lacs INR
Cash: 47,500 INR
Bank Deposits: 63,000 INR
Jewellery: Two 20gm Gold rings and one moti studded Silver ring worth 51,000 INR

Properties: 40 Lacs INR
Residential flat in Sansad Village, Co-op Group Housing Society, Dwarka, New Delhi worth 40 Lacs INR

Favourite Things

Favourite Politician: Jaiprakash Narayan

Favourite Actor: Aamir Khan

Favourite Film: PK (2014)

Favourite Food: Butter Masala Dosa

Favourite Beverage: Tea

Salary & Net Worth

Salary: 2.15 Lacs INR per month

Net Worth: 3.09 Crores INR

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 With His Son Nishant Kumar

Scroll to Top