Patna: CM Nitish Kumar on Friday took oath as a Rajya Sabha member, a move that clears the path for the selection of a new chief minister and the formation of a new NDA govt in Bihar led by the BJP.Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan administered the oath in his chamber during a brief ceremony and later welcomed Nitish to the Upper House and back to Parliament.With his entry into the Rajya Sabha, Nitish joins a rare group of Bihar leaders, including political rival Lalu Prasad, who have served in all four legislative houses: Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Bihar legislative assembly and Bihar legislative council.His move is being viewed as a strategic shift aimed at giving him a larger role in national politics alongside senior NDA leaders.Nitish took the oath in Hindi in the presence of Union minister and leader of the House J P Nadda; finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman; panchayati raj minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh; minister of state for agriculture and farmers welfare Ram Nath Thakur, and minister of state for law and justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.Also present were JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha; Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh; BJP MP and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, and BJP chief whip in Lok Sabha Sanjay Jaiswal.Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Nitish and described him as one of the country’s most experienced leaders. In a post on X in Hindi, Modi said Nitish Kumar’s commitment to good governance has been appreciated everywhere and that he has made an indelible contribution to Bihar’s development.After taking oath, Nitish briefly recalled his earlier tenure as a Lok Sabha member and his time in the old Parliament building before returning to Patna from Delhi to begin the leadership transition in Bihar.He is expected to resign as CM within the next two to four days, with the NDA likely to choose his successor by April 14. Sources said Nitish may resign on April 14. An NDA legislature party meeting is also scheduled for April 14, when the new CM is expected to be finalised.Congress MP Rajeev Shukla said Nitish Kumar’s oath marked the end of “Nitish Yug” in Bihar. He alleged it was part of a long-standing BJP plan to project Nitish during the 2025 assembly polls and later replace him to secure the CM’s post for itself.
