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The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday managed an easy victory in the biennial polls to five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, with its candidates including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP national president Nitin Nabin
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Nitish Kumar To File Rajya Sabha Nomination Today. Who Will Take Over As Bihar CM?
Nitish Kumar To File Rajya Sabha Nomination Today. Who Will Take Over As Bihar CM?
Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister, who took oath for the record 10th time in November last year, JD(U) veteran Nitish Kumar will file his nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections at 11.30 am on Thursday, March 5.
The question of who will now succeed Nitish Kumar as the chief minister, is at the forefront. He will, however, stay in the state’s top post for a while as the Rajya Sabha term ends in April.
According to sources, while the BJP in Bihar is talking about Nitish giving up the chief minister’s chair, the JD(U) seems divided with one section vehemently against any kind of power transfer.
ALSO READ | The Power Flip: With Nitish Kumar’s Rajya Sabha Switch, How JD(U) Lost Bihar Upper Hand To BJP
From the BJP’s deputy CM Samrat Choudhary to “old hand" Sanjiv Chaurasiya and Union minister Nityanand Rai – many names are being spoken of in party circles as a probable CM face. While there is no official confirmation from the JD(U) or BJP yet, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in Bihar on Thursday for party president Nitin Nabin’s nomination.
Amid intense speculation over a potential leadership change in the state, Choudhary stayed put in Patna instead of visiting his constituency of Tarapur to celebrate Holi as is his usual practice. Sources in the BJP, meanwhile, said an arrangement had been proposed a few weeks ago to Nitish and the JD(U) to send the chief minister to the Rajya Sabha and make his son, Nishant Kumar, a deputy CM.
The news of his nomination came as a meeting was underway at his residence in Patna between him, JD(U) national working president Sanjay Jha, and Bihar minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary. Nishant, as state minister Shrawon Kumar said earlier, will be entering active politics with a leading role in the party.
“We gave away the CM position to the JD(U) last time as well when we had way more seats than them," the BJP sources told News18.
They said in all likelihood, the BJP will have the CM post for the first time and the picture will be clearer soon. There is a possibility that Nishant Kumar becomes deputy CM.
Following the NDA’s landslide victory in the 2025 assembly elections — securing 202 out of 243 seats — the BJP emerged as the single-largest party for the first time with 89 MLAs. Experts said while the BJP upheld its pre-poll promise to back him, the current landscape is increasingly viewed as a “post-Nitish era" in waiting, where the party seeks to install one of its own to reflect its status as the dominant force.
Those close to Nitish, however, have doubts if he will make Nishant his natural heir, seeing as he has fought against “dynastic" politics all his life. But his son’s JD(U) entry signals a dramatic departure from this long-standing belief. Others view this move as a desperate measure to prevent the party from disintegrating after Nitish steps back, serving to hold the fort against internal power struggles between senior leaders like Sanjay Jha or Ashok Choudhary.
Here are the probable candidates for the next Bihar CM:
The more influential of the two BJP deputy CMs of Bihar, Samrat Choudhary also serves as the state’s home minister.
Choudhary is widely regarded as one of the top contenders for the CM’s post should Nitish move to the Rajya Sabha. He has been deputy since January 2024 and retained that spot after the elections last year.
He was elected MLA from the Tarapur constituency in Munger district. When it comes to his BJP career graph, he has served as the state president from March 2023 to July 2024 and previously held the role of leader of the opposition in the legislative council.
Since caste plays a major role in state politics, he is seen as a key face for the BJP’s outreach to the other backward classes (OBC), specifically Koeri/Kushwaha) community, which is a vital demographic in the state’s “Luv-Kush" political equation.
Known as an old BJP hand, Sanjiv Chaurasiya is a prominent leader of in Bihar and the MLA from Digha constituency in Patna.
In the 2025 elections, Chaurasiya won his seat for the third consecutive time — having previously won in 2015 and 2020 — securing a victory margin of more than 59,000 votes. A fairly senior BJP leader in Bihar, he could be the “surprise" that the saffron party often springs when it comes handing out leadership roles.
Chaurasiya holds a PhD from Ranchi University (awarded in 2006), as well as an MBA (1996) and MCom (1993) from Patna University. Outside of politics, he is an assistant professor at SS Memorial College in Ranchi.
A prominent BJP leader from Bihar, Nityanand Rai serves as the Union Minister of State for home affairs and played a significant role in the NDA’s landslide victory in the 2025 polls.
He has held his position in the ministry of home affairs since May 2019, and has often been projected by Union Home Minister Amit Shah as someone who could be seen as taking up a more important role in Bihar politics. He represents the Ujiarpur Lok Sabha constituency in the state, also having won the seat in both the 2014 and 2019 general elections.
Rai is often cited as a major “Yadav face" for the BJP in Bihar, aimed at building a support base within the community. He served as the state president from 2016 to 2019 and, under his leadership, the NDA won 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar during the 2019 polls.
Before moving to national politics, he was a four-time MLA from the Hajipur constituency (2000–2014). He began his political journey in 1982 with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and joined the BJP in 1990.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the upcoming biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 states, as the members are set to complete their term in April 2026. The term of 37 members elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.
The notification for the election was issued on February 26. The last date of nominations is March 5, followed by scrutiny on March 6 and the candidates can withdraw their nominations till March 9. The polling is scheduled to take place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm.
(With inputs from Arunima, Arun Dhanta, Payal Mehta and agencies)
Source: News18
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