Sipu Jha
PATNA/NEW DELHI: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday confirmed that he will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha in the current cycle of elections.The announcement has sent shockwaves through the political landscape of Bihar, coming just months after his resounding fifth electoral victory in 2025 and his tenth oath as Chief Minister. Reacting to the move, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha drew an unusual analogy. He said the situation resembles a “desi version of the Maduro model” or a case of “kidnapping by consent.” Jha referred to the December 2025 US strikes in Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. “The way this news emerged suddenly across multiple media platforms indicates that it is not mere speculation or rumour. This reflects the end of a political chapter. Even in a ‘desi’ form, such a model can be seen as captivity by consent where the consent is not truly given by the individual but by those around him,” he said.Tejashwi Yadav, leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly, launched a scathing attack on the BJP after Kumar’s confirmation. He accused the party of hijacking Nitish Kumar and said the move is against the sentiments of the people. “I always said ‘Nitish ji ko ghoda toh chadaya hai dulha banake, lekin phera kisi aur ke sath dila raha hai.’ The BJP has completely hijacked Nitish Kumar. Today, that statement has come true. People’s aspirations are against this change of power,” Yadav said. RJD leader Mrityunjay Tiwari described the move as a “huge political abduction.” He said it exposes the attitude of the BJP towards its allies and claimed that some JD(U) leaders are working in collusion with the BJP while others support Nitish Kumar. “A major upheaval in Bihar politics has suddenly become visible. No one could have anticipated that the BJP would remove Chief Minister Nitish Kumar so quickly after the elections, but the warning had been there. This is a huge political abduction,” Tiwari told news agency ANI. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh called it a “leadership coup” and said it betrayed the mandate of the people. “What the Indian National Congress had been saying during the Bihar election campaign has now come to pass. A leadership coup and regime change orchestrated by G2 has taken place. In many ways, it is a huge betrayal of the people’s mandate,” he said in a post on X. JD(U) workers and supporters expressed disbelief outside the Chief Minister’s residence in Patna. One worker even suggested that it was possible Nitish Kumar’s account had been hijacked.Union minister and JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan Lalan Singh praised Nitish Kumar’s achievements. He said no one can imagine what Kumar has done for Bihar and stressed that it is entirely up to him to decide where he wants to go. “Nitish Kumar will make this decision. He has built Bihar. He will go wherever he wants to go,” Singh said.Former union minister and BJP ally Udit Raj expressed surprise at Kumar’s decision and criticized it for weakening the JD(U). He pointed to high unemployment, the privatization of government functions, and the low standards of government schools in Bihar. “If he is going to be an MP, it would be more honourable for him to take up no roles,” he said. In his statement on X, CM Nitish Kumar sought to assure the people of Bihar that his commitment to the state remains unchanged. “I seek to become a member of the Rajya Sabha in the elections being held this time. My relationship with you and my resolve to work together to build a developed Bihar will remain steadfast. The new government that will be formed will have my full cooperation and guidance,” he wrote.(With agency inputs)
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