Nitish Kumar is one of the most famous politician who have been serving Bihar as Chief Minister since 2015. Being one of the most popular and beloved politician, here are some facts about this great man.
1. Nitish Kumar was born in Bihar to Parmeshwari devi and Kabiraj Ram, a freedom fighter who was very close to great Gandhian Bihar Vibhuti Anugrah Narayan Sinha, one of the founders of modern Bihar.
2. He got a degree in mechanical engineering from Bihar College of Engineering, which is now renamed as NIT Patna. Then he joined the Bihar State Electricity Board as part of the Indian Engineering Service and then moved to politics.
3. Belonging to Janata Dal party, Nitish Kumar has been Chief Minister of Bihar since 2005. He was a union Minister in the Government of India previously.
4. Nitish Kumar’s father,was also an Ayurvedic Vaidyaraj. Latter then he left the Indian National Congress to join the Janata Party after they denied him as a candidate in the 1952 and 1957 general elections.
5. While being appointed as CM in Bihar, his socialist policies helped in appointing more than 100,000 school teachers, ensuring that doctors worked in primary health centers, electrification of villages, paving of roads, cutting female illiteracy by half, turning around a lawless state by cracking down on criminals and doubling the income of the average Bihari.
6. Nitish Kumar belongs to a socialist class of politicians. He learnt the lessons of politics under the tutelage of Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, S N Sinha, Karpuri Thakur and V. P. Singh.
7. Nitish Kumar’s government initiated bicycle and meal programs – the government gave bicycles to girls who went to school and attended the lectures. This initiate saw a drastic change in Bihar because they started getting huge number of girls into schools and fall in school drop out rates.
8. Did you know what is the nickname of Nitish Kumar? Well, it is Munna. He is a teetotaller, does not smoke and is a frugal eater.
9. On 22 February 1973, Nitish Kumar is married to Manju Kumari Sinha, a teacher by profession. The couple is blessed with a son, Nishant, who is a graduate in engineering. However, Manju Sinha died in 2007 at the age of 53.
10. Sankarshan Thakur authored a book based on his life titled Single Man: The Life and Times of Nitish Kumar of Bihar.
11.Arun Sinha has authored a book titled Nitish Kumar and The Rise of Bihar which was a success on release.
12. Nitish kumar has earned several awards and recognition and some of them include
• CNN-IBN Great Indian of the Year – Politics, 2008
• The Best Chief Minister, according to the CNN-IBN and Hindustan Times State of the Nation Poll 2007.
• Forbes “India’s Person of the Year”, 2011
• Ranked 77th in prestigious Foreign Policy Magazine top 100 global thinkers 2012.
