Desk Correspondent , Patna - He has been Chief Minister of Bihar ten times. He has switched alliances between the BJP and the opposition four times. He has survived political obituaries that would have finished lesser politicians. On Monday, March 30, Nitish Kumar, Bihar's most enduring political constant resigned from the Bihar Legislative Council following his election to the Rajya Sabha, complying with constitutional rules that prevent holding two legislative positions simultaneously. The resignation was constitutionally required, not politically motivated. But its consequences for Bihar's leadership and for the BJP's long held ambition to place its own man in the Chief Minister's chair are anything but routine.

Nitish Kumar resigned from Bihar Legislative Council per 1950 Prohibition Rules (Articles 101/190), mandated within 14 days of March 16 Rajya Sabha win mirroring BJP's Nitin Nabin's exit, as Houses reconvened March 30, his decades-long dream fulfilled after March 5 nomination expressing desire for dual Houses membership, March 24 JD(U) Presidency win, and November 2025 10th CM oath post-landslide, amid revolving alliances since 1985 MLA debut and Vajpayee era rail stint.

Succession race heats up for BJP's first Bihar CM contenders: Dep CMs Samrat Chaudhary (OBC base), Vijay Kumar Sinha (ex-Speaker), ex-BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal, Agri Min Ram Kripal Yadav (ex-MP), ex-SC/ST Min Janak Ram, MLA Nitish Mishra (52k+ 2025 win), as Nishant Kumar eyes Dy CM debut despite dynastic opposition, Minister Yadav deferred: "I cannot tell... he will make the decision," amid observers eyeing strategy/alliance dynamics.

Nitish Kumar's resignation from the Bihar Legislative Council marks the formal end of his two-decade grip on Bihar's executive machinery, a tenure of unmatched longevity, defined by ideological flexibility his admirers call pragmatism and his critics call opportunism. The BJP's likely ascension to the Chief Minister's chair for the first time in Bihar's modern political history carries enormous implications for the state's governance, its caste arithmetic, and its relationship with New Delhi. Nitish heads to Parliament fulfilling a lifelong aspiration. Whether he returns to Bihar's executive life once more is a question that, given his track record, would be unwise to answer too confidently in the negative.