Patna: In the politics of Bihar, the name of Nitish Kumar has become synonymous with coalition and 'paltimar' politics. In his political journey of half a century, he changed alliances many times, defined friends and enemies, and remained at the center of power every time. His journey, which began as a disciple of Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) in the 1970s, took him to the position of Chief Minister of Bihar nine times. Now the 2025 assembly elections are taking place, the results will come on November 14 and only after that it will be known whether Nitish Kumar will take oath for the tenth time or not.

Today we are telling you about the major milestones of CM Nitish's political journey….

Initial journey: Distance from Lalu and support of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1974-2004)

Nitish Kumar's political rise came from the JP movement.

• 1974-77: He took part in Jayaprakash Narayan's 'Sampoorna Kranti' movement, where he laid the foundation of anti-Emergency politics along with many leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sushil Kumar Modi and Ram Vilas Paswan.
• 1985: Elected as MLA from Harnaut for the first time.
• 1989-1990: He reached the Lok Sabha from Barh and became Minister of State in the VP Singh government. It was during this period that his differences with Lalu Yadav deepened.
• 1994-1996: He separated from Janata Dal and started Samata Party along with George Fernandes.
• 1998-2004: Became a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA government. During this period he was given credit for reforms in the railways.

First taste of power and end of Lalu-Rabri rule (2000–2010)

At the end of the twentieth century, Nitish Kumar tried to reach the post of Chief Minister for the first time.

• 2000: His first term as Chief Minister lasted only a week, as he failed to prove majority in the Assembly and had to resign.
• 2005: He led the JDU-BJP alliance and gained power in Bihar, ending the 15-year 'Jungle Raj' of Lalu-Rabri. This was the beginning of the era of Good Governance.
• 2010: NDA achieved a historic mandate by winning 206 out of 243 seats, establishing Nitish as the strongest leader of Bihar.

The art of alliance and the title of 'Paltimar' (2013-2025)

• Nitish Kumar's political journey after 2013 focused on instability and changing alliances, due to which he came to be called 'Paltimar'.
• 2013: He broke the alliance with BJP and walked out of NDA, objecting to Narendra Modi being declared the Prime Ministerial candidate.
• 2015: He defeated the BJP in alliance with old rival RJD and the Congress-led Grand Alliance and became the Chief Minister again.
• 2017: He left the Grand Alliance citing corruption allegations against Tejashwi Yadav and returned to NDA.
• 2020: NDA wins by a slim margin, but JDU falls to 43 seats from 71 in 2015, their worst performance in 15 years.
• 2022: He broke ties with BJP and returned to the grand alliance with RJD-Congress.
• January 2024: Just before the Lok Sabha elections, he again left the Grand Alliance and returned to the NDA to become the Chief Minister for the 9th time.

This political journey of Nitish Kumar clearly shows that personal ambition and strategy to remain in power has been the basic basis of his politics. It remains to be seen how far the 2025 assembly elections will take his 'Coalition King' title.