Tuesday, November 22 2005 19:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Life has come full circle for Nitish Kumar, often dubbed as National Democratic Alliance (NDA) perennial Chief Minister-in-waiting, who finally had a sweet revenge after his brief tryst with Chief Ministership five years ago without a majority.

Patience finally paid for the 54-year-old Kumar, who has shown that his success was not just a flash in the pan as he led the NDA to a convincing win in the politically volatile state, to end the 15-year reign of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad.

The victory is all the more sweet for the trained engineer from Bihar College of Engineering as it came five years after a brief stint in the top seat in March 2000.

The then NDA-appointed Governor had sworn in Kumar despite his lacking majority and was forced to bow out without facing a trial of strength in the Assembly in the face of a certain defeat.

Referred to as the Chanakya of Bihar politics, Kumarhas now come to don the mantle of Chandragupta, the King of ancient Magadh who ended the reign of the Nandas.

Incidentally, Kumar also hails from backward classes like Lalu Prasad, who have come to call the shots in the state politics in the post-Mandal phase.

Blending his secular ideology with pragmatic politics, Kumar, known for his no-nonsense attitude, was condemned to live in the shadow of a charismatic and exuberant RJD boss Lalu Prasad for several years.

His hawkish views on job reservations for the OBCs and Dalit Muslims notwithstanding, the wily craftsman of modern politics did the delicate balancing act to keep the votaries of both Mandal and Mandir happy.

The former Railway Minister in Vajpayee Government, Kumar is a known fighter and is not the one to take things lightly.

He had openly dared the RJD supremo for a debate in Patna's Gandhi Maidan when the latter accused him of doing precious little during his tenure as Railway minister except making announcements.

A socialist and Lohiaite by conviction, Kumar was drawn to politics during his college days and was a key leader of 1974 students' movement under the Jayaprakash Narain which culminated in the fall of the Indira Gandhi regime and installation of the first non-Congress Government in Delhi in 1977.

Kumar got a Janata party ticket to contest the assembly election from Harnaut in his native Nalanda district but lost despite an anti-Congress wave sweeping almost entire North India. Lady luck refused to smile on him again in 1980.

Though his contemporaries like Lalu Prasad and Ramvilas Paswan tasted electoral victory getting elected to Lok Sabha in 1977, success came slow for Nitish Kumar.

His legislative career began in 1985 when he got elected to the assembly from Harnaut after two failed attempts.

Clear-headed and articulate, he made his mark as one of the most effective speakers and his proximity to Haryana patriarch Devi Lal secured him a ticket to contest 1989 Lok Sabha elections from Barh. He defeated Congress heavyweight and former union minister Ramlakhan Singh Yadav from there.

There was no looking back since then as he got re-elected to Lok Sabha without a break and now represents Nalanda constituency in the lower house.

Considered an able administrator, Kumar's ministerial stint at the Centre began with his appointment as minister of state for agriculture and cooperatives in the national front Government led by V P Singh in 1990.

Despite being instrumental in installation of Lalu Prasad as Chief Minister in 1990, Kumar's relations with the Yadav strongman came under strain in the years that followed.

The two parted company and Nitish along with Fernandes and 12 other MPs quit Janata Dal to form the Samata Party in 1994 and waged a sustained battle against the Lalu-Rabri rule.

When NDA Government was formed in 1998, Kumar became Railway minister with additional charge of Surface Transport Ministry.

He, however, resigned owning responsibility for the Gaisal train disaster in August 1999.

Kumar was later accommodated in the union cabinet and was Agriculture minister from November 1999 to March 2000. He again became the Railway minister from March 2001 to May 2004.

He was also instrumental in the merger of Samata Party with Janata Dal (JD) United (U) that enhanced the influence of the two socialist-leaning parties vis-a-vis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Though the NDA's campaign was built around the backward class leader, Kumar did not contest the assembly elections and retained his position as JD(U) leader in the Lok Sabha.