As Nitish Kumar serving his nineth term, eyes higher, meet India's longest-serving chief ministers

As the Bihar election result will be out on November 14, the anticipations and expectations are rising in the political circles. The BJP led NDA and Congress led Mahagathbandhan factions are both claiming to come to power. Amid this fight, the crucial question is who will become the chief minister of Bihar, NDA’s Nitish Kumar or Mahagathbandhan’s Tejashwi Yadav.

Nitish Kumar is serving his nineth term as CM

A Chief Minister of a state is what a Prime Minister is for the country. Both of them have the same tenure. The person on the position is the head of the state as per Article 163 of the Indian Constitution, who heads the Council of Ministers.

What is the history of Bihar’s chief ministers?

From 1946 till now, Bihar has seen 23 chief ministers including the incumbent Nitish Kumar who first took oath as the CM on March 3, 2000 but for 7 days. While he served his first full term from November 24, 2005 – November 24, 2010, which was also the second time he became the CM. However, since then he never completed a full term and remained in the office occasionally. His current term starting from January 28, 2024 is his ninth term and in total he has served 18 years and 90 days across multiple terms.

Bihar’s first chief minister was Sri Krishna Sinha, who served from April 2, 1946, to January 31, 1961, and is known for abolishing the Zamindari system and implementing significant river valley projects. Nitish Kumar, with a total tenure of 18 years and 90 days across multiple terms.

Whereas Bihar’s first woman chief minister is Rabri Devi, wife of Lalu Prasad Yadav who served from July 25, 1997, to February 11, 1999, while he was serving jail term. The shortest serving chief minister was Satish Prasad Singh, who served for just 5 days in 1968.

Among these Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar have been the most significant chief ministers of the eastern as they both eliminated various problems in society and took development work. Lalu Yadav served as CM from March 10, 1990, to March 28, 1995.