Bihar CM Nitish Kumar likely to enter Rajya Sabha, nomination today

Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar and supremo of the Janata Dal (United), is set to file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, HT has learnt — a move that would require him to vacate the chief minister’s post.

Five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar are scheduled to go to polls on March 16. The elections are being held as the terms of JD(U) leaders Harivansh Narayan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders Prem Chand Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha are ending.

With Nitish Kumar likely to step down months after leading the ruling National Democratic Alliance to a landslide victory in the 2025 assembly elections, a leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to take over as chief minister.

According to people familiar with the matter, BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Nityanand Rai are among the frontrunners for the post. If this happens, Bihar could get its first BJP chief minister — making it the only major Hindi heartland state where the party has not held the top office so far.

Based on the current strength in the state assembly, all five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar are expected to go to the ruling NDA. Earlier this week, the BJP announced nine candidates for the 2026 biennial Rajya Sabha elections across six states. From Bihar, the party fielded state chief Nitin Nabin and leader Shivesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, a JD(U) minister indicated that Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar may soon enter politics. “He will be given a bigger responsibility in the party. What responsibility he gets will be decided in a day or two,” minister Sharwan Kumar was quoted as saying earlier. Asked whether Nishant Kumar could be sent to the Rajya Sabha, the minister replied, “Anything can happen.”

Thursday is the last date for filing nominations for the March 16 elections.