As Nitish Kumar steps aside, Bihar faces an unfinished political agenda

As Nitish Kumar steps aside after two decades, Bihar faces a political transition while grappling with persistent poverty, fiscal stress and large-scale youth migration

For nearly two decades, Bihar’s politics has revolved around Nitish Kumar. Since assuming office for his first full five-year term as chief minister in 2005, he has remained at the centre of state power, aligning with different parties as political circumstances required. With Kumar now vacating the coveted chair, apparently for coalition partner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bihar appears to be entering the end of an era and approaching a significant political transition.

 

D M Diwakar, former director of Patna’s AN Sinha Institute and currently associated with the Development Research Institute in Jalsain, Madhubani, says Kumar’s departure will leave a leadership vacuum. According to him, Kumar understood the political pulse of Bihar but did not cultivate a second line of leadership.

 

When Kumar became chief minister in 2005, Bihar was widely counted among India’s ‘BIMARU’ states, alongside Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Despite progress on several fronts since then, Bihar remains the only one among these states yet to fully shed the label.

 

At the time, Bihar’s per capita income was among the lowest in India. The road network was underdeveloped, electricity access was limited in both rural and urban areas, and the state lagged on several social indicators.

 

In the years that followed, the government focused on rebuilding state capacity and expanding infrastructure. Bihar’s economic growth accelerated in the late 2000s and early 2010s, at times placing it among India’s faster-growing state economies. Over the past two decades, Bihar’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth has outpaced the national rate several times. The GSDP expanded from about ₹79,382 crore in 2005-06 to roughly ₹9,91,997 crore in 2024-25. During the same period, per capita income rose nearly eightfold, from around ₹8,223 to ₹76,490.

 

Poverty indicators have also improved. The share of people classified as multidimensionally poor declined from 78.28 per cent in 2005-06 to 33.76 per cent, according to the latest estimates by NITI Aayog and the United Nations Development Programme. Even so, Bihar still accounts for the largest number of people living below the poverty line in the country.

 

“This is the biggest failure of Nitish Kumar,” said an economist based in Patna. “Per capita income has increased manifold, but it remains the lowest in India. The effort required to generate employment opportunities within the state was insufficient.”

 

Infrastructure development became one of the most visible markers of Kumar’s tenure. The expansion of road networks and improvements in highways connecting districts were frequently highlighted as signs of administrative revival and strengthened Kumar’s image as a ‘vikas purush’, or development-oriented leader.

 

The state’s road network nearly doubled during this period, from about 14,468 kilometres in 2005 to around 26,000 kilometres by 2025, according to data from the state’s road construction department. Several new bridges were also built across major rivers such as the Ganga and the Kosi, which historically limited connectivity. “Earlier there was only one bridge across the Ganga connecting north and south Bihar; now several have been constructed,” the economist said.

 

Electricity infrastructure has also undergone a significant transformation. With 39,073 villages electrified by 2025, Bihar has achieved near-universal household electrification, according to a reply by the power ministry in the Lok Sabha. Electricity generation capacity increased from 585 Mw in 2005 to 10,816.26 Mw in 2025, according to the National Power Portal.

 

Kumar’s tenure is also associated with major social policy interventions, particularly in education and women’s empowerment. One of the most widely cited initiatives is the Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana, launched in 2006 to encourage girls to attend secondary school by providing financial assistance to purchase bicycles. The scheme is widely credited with increasing school participation and reducing dropout rates among girls. By government estimates, more than 9.7 million bicycles have been distributed to female students.

 

The scheme formed part of a broader political strategy that recognised women as a key electoral constituency. In 2006, Bihar became the first state in India to introduce 50 per cent reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions, significantly increasing female representation in local governance. Women now occupy more than half of elected positions in local bodies, with about 71,046 women representatives among 136,573 elected members. The government also introduced a 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs.

 

The Jeevika project further sought to economically empower rural women by organising them into self-help groups. Over time, it expanded across the state, forming nearly 1.05 million groups involving over 13 million women. Many are engaged in micro-enterprises, agricultural support activities and small businesses, making Jeevika one of the largest women-focused livelihood programmes in India.

 

Education was another pillar of Kumar’s development approach. According to Census data, Bihar’s literacy rate increased from 47 per cent in 2001 to 61.8 per cent in 2011. Male literacy rose from 59.68 per cent to 71.20 per cent during this period, while female literacy increased from 33.12 per cent to 51.50 per cent. The gender gap in literacy narrowed by 25.8 per cent, indicating significant gains in women’s access to education.

 

The 2023-24 Periodic Labour Force Survey places Bihar’s literacy rate at 74.3 per cent. Despite these improvements, the state continues to lag behind the national literacy rate of 80.9 per cent and remains the second lowest in the country after Andhra Pradesh.

 

Public health indicators have also improved gradually. Institutional deliveries have increased and infant mortality rates have declined compared with the mid-2000s, reflecting the expansion of healthcare infrastructure and public health programmes.

 

Challenge for the new CM

 

As Bihar moves towards a leadership transition, the next chief minister will face several unresolved economic and social challenges. “Managing state finances will be the most difficult task for the new CM,” the Patna-based economist said. “The financial health of the state is in very poor shape. We are nearing the end of the financial year, but funds are being blocked in several government departments.”

 

Diwakar expressed similar concerns. “The Bihar government does not have sufficient money to pay salaries and pensions. It can only function with the help of overdrafts or special packages; otherwise even routine maintenance will become difficult,” he said. In his view, Bihar’s most viable economic path lies in strengthening agriculture and developing agro-based industries.

 

Kumar’s rise to power was partly shaped by public discontent over the period often described as “jungle raj” during the tenure of Lalu Prasad. However, concerns over law and order in recent years have begun to challenge Kumar’s reputation as ‘Sushasan babu’, a leader associated with good governance. The new chief minister, who is expected to come from the BJP, will face the task of addressing crime -- an issue the party has often used to criticise its rival, the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

 

Another major challenge will be curbing the large-scale migration of young people seeking employment elsewhere. With a population of more than 120 million, a large share of Bihar’s residents falls within the working-age group. According to a 2021 NITI Aayog report, nearly 58 per cent of the state’s population is below the age of 25, making Bihar one of India’s youngest states. “Bihar has the demography; the task is to convert it into a dividend,” said Diwakar. “Young minds must be turned into skilled minds by expanding higher education and skill training, thus creating employment opportunities. Otherwise brain drain will continue and demography will become a burden.”

 

Beyond economic challenges, the leadership transition could reshape Bihar’s political and social equations. Over the years Kumar built a broad social coalition that extended beyond traditional upper-caste dominance, consolidating support among Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), Mahadalits and women.

 

Data from the socioeconomic and caste census show that EBCs constitute a significant share of Bihar’s population, and Kumar’s outreach to these groups played an important role in stabilising his electoral alliance with the BJP. “The BJP cannot afford to lose these voter bases, which is why efforts are being made to bring Kumar’s son, Nishant Kumar, into politics so that Janata Dal (United) voters can identify with him,” Diwakar said.

 

Without Kumar as the central figure managing these social coalitions, political parties may attempt to reorganise caste alliances. The Opposition, led by Tejashwi Yadav, is expected to seek support beyond its traditional base, and the reshaping of these equations could significantly influence Bihar’s political landscape in the years ahead.