Senior JD(U) Leader And Minister Ashok Choudhary Roots For Nitish's Son Nishant As Next Bihar CM
Nishant joined JD(U) on March 8 and officially entered active politics.
By Dev Raj
Published : March 17, 2026 at 8:17 PM IST
Patna: Who will be the next chief minister of Bihar? Ask senior Janata Dal (United) leader and rural works minister Ashok Choudhary and he will point towards the present chief minister Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar. Fielding questions from media persons on whether Nishant was being primed for the deputy chief minister’s position, Ashok set the political pot boiling with his reactions.
“Why are you limiting him (Nishant) only to the deputy chief minister’s post? The sky is the limit. He can go anywhere. He can become anything anywhere in future,” he said.
As direct questions about whether Nitish’s son could become chief minister were lobbed at him, the JD(U) leader retorted: “Why can’t he become so?”
The minister, currently visiting Delhi, also used the opportunity to take a jibe at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) national working president and Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav by adding, “If a ninth-fail person can claim to become the chief minister of this state, why cannot a man who has studied engineering become so.”
When contacted by ETV Bharat on Tuesday regarding the ‘million-dollar questions,’ Ashok said: “The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners will sit together and discuss who will be the next chief minister. It will be finalised by all of us. Right now, Nitish is the chief minister, and he has to take the oath as a Rajya Sabha member next month.”
When asked about the probability of Nishant succeeding his father, Ashok told ETV Bharat, “Why can’t Nishant become a chief minister? He is educated and has all the qualities. However, it is a bit early. Nitish will himself take a call on it at the opportune moment. The people of Bihar will be happy if he (Nishant) becomes the chief minister.”
The minister’s comments come at a juncture when Nitish has been elected to the Rajya Sabha and has already indicated his intention to quit the chief minister’s post. This will be followed by the formation of a new government in the state.
The Rajya Sabha seat to which JD(U) national president Nitish has been elected will become vacant on April 9. He is expected to resign around that time to take the oath in the Upper House of the Parliament, but he has not spoken anything about it during his ongoing Samriddhi Yatra (Prosperity Tour).
It also comes at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has always played second fiddle to the JD(U), is looking to install its own chief minister in Bihar for the first time. It is the largest in the state Assembly with 89 seats, with JD(U) following it with 85 seats. The entire National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has 202 MLAs in the 243-member House.
Nishant joined JD(U) on March 8 and officially entered active politics. He will soon set out on a statewide tour to meet the people and get a first-hand experience of the situation at the grassroots.
While party workers and leaders celebrated Nishant joining the JD(U), it also became an emotional issue among Nitish loyalists and supporters. They now want him to succeed Nitish as the chief minister.
Ashok’s remarks could also indicate the emerging line of the JD(U) on the issue of succession of Nitish and could also intensify the demand made by party workers and leaders.
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