Updated: November 5, 2020 8:15:37 pm
A product of the JP Movement of 1974-75, Nitish Kumar is seeking a fourth consecutive term as prime minister.
Chief Minister three times Nitish Kumar signed on the last day of the campaign by announcing that the 2020 Bihar assembly elections would be his last polls as he addressed a rally in the Purnia district. This is the first time Nitish Kumar, 69, has hinted at a retirement at his rallies.
“Today is the last day of the campaign and the day after tomorrow is the elections. This is my last choice … aant bhala for sab bhala, ”Nitish Kumar said while addressing a meeting in the Dhamdaha constituency of the Purnia district.
Commenting on Kumar, LJP chief Chirag Paswan tweeted: “Saheb has said this is his last election. This time, he has not given an account of his last five years in office and has already said that he will not come to account the next time. Do not vote for those who will not come tomorrow to seek your blessings. In the next elections, neither saheb nor JD (U) will remain. So who will account?
This is my last election, says the head of Bihar CM and JD (U) Nitish Kumar during an electoral rally in Purnia# BiharElections2020 pic.twitter.com/vLSL4uQd4v
– ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2020
Hours earlier, Paswan said Kumar would stand “with his hands folded and his head bowed” before the RJD leadership for another shot at power despite his party’s poor performance in the assembly elections.
Tejashwi Yadav, the main opposition ministerial contender for the Grand Alliance, who has often claimed that Kumar was “tired,” said the JD (U) chief’s comments show that he had understood the realities on the ground.
“We have been saying this for a long time that Nitish Kumar ji has worn out and is not able to handle Bihar. Now, on the last day of the election campaign, he has announced that he is retiring from politics, perhaps he has understood the realities on the ground, ”said Tejashwi.
Congressional leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said Bihar would now move forward as the “tired and retired” Nitish Kumar-led government had accepted retirement.
Fortunately, Nitish ji has admitted defeat before the third phase of the Bihar polls. Nitish ji and Modi ji have caused more damage to Bihar than anyone in the past. Nitish babu should retire, he can share his good experiences with the candidate of Mahagathbandhan CM, ”Surjewala said at a press conference.
महागठबंधन की जीत की खुशबू ने उड़ाए भाजपा-जदयू के ‘तोते’
नीतीश बाबू की ‘निराशा’ और महागठबंधन की ‘आशा’ है बड़े बदलाव का सूचक
” टायर्ड व रिटायर्ड ” नीतीश सरकार ने की रिटायरमेंट स्वीकार – अब आगे बढ़ेगा बिहार# बोले_बिहार_महागठबंधन_सरकार
हमारा बयान-: pic.twitter.com/oOcXpTHVO5
– Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) November 5, 2020
Kumar began his political journey way back in 1977. It took him eight years to win his first Harnaut election in 1985 after failing twice (in 1977 and then again in 1980). Since then, Kumar has not looked back.
A product of the 1974-75 JP Movement, Kumar, seeking a fourth consecutive term as prime minister, has been one of the two main poles of Bihar politics, the other RJD supreme being Lalu Prasad, since the Mandal revolution in 1990s.
Kumar has come a long way from the political years he spent in the shadow, first of Lalu and then George Fernandes in the Samata Party, which they had both founded in 1994. In 2000, as part of the NDA, Nitish became the Prime Minister. The BJP has supported it since 2005, except for four years (June 2013 to July 2017).
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