Socialism, with integrity

Incumbent Chief Minister of Bihar and ex-Railways Minister of India, Nitish Kumar, a veteran of coalition-era politics and Emergency-era social activism, was born today in 1951.

Nitish Kumar; Source: Wikipedia

Born today in 1951, Nitish Kumar is (as of 2021) the incumbent Chief Minister of the Indian state of Bihar. But ruling Bihar is his pinnacle achievement, his life before the event is quite prolific, a tale of socialist politics, ideal dreams and tough dealings.

Born to a family where his father was an ayurvedic practitioner, Nitish Kumar completed his Engineering in 1972. While he joined the Bihar State Electricity Board, the situation in Bihar was obvious to anyone who cared to look. Decades of mismanagement of an agricultural system had destroyed the land, famines were common, and the government had to repeatedly rely on foreign imports to feed their own citizens.

It is no surprise then, that the crop of Socialist politicians which emerged in the region and the nation as a whole, also included Nitish Kumar.

Associated with the likes of people like JP Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, VP Singh, etc., Kumar joined the movement against Emergency, like many of the other youngsters who were stirred to action against a government they saw was too corrupt to care for their survival needs.

Joining the Janata Party after the Emergency, he climbed the political ranks, and eventually, became the Union Minister for Railways under the first full-term NDA government, introducing the tatkal system of instant ticket booking. He had served the same post back in 1998-99 too, resigning after the train disaster at Gaisal, which had left more than 200 people dead.

Since then, he has been part of the Janata Dal United, a party aligned with the ruling NDA at the centre. Serving as a Chief Minister of Bihar from 2005 till date, his regime has been praised for being a fresh breath after the misgovernance of Bihar in the previous decades. Under his rule, a state crackdown on corruption, increasing focus on girl’s education, and meal and bicycle programmes have been the hallmark of policy.