Thursday, November 24 2005 15:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Nitish Kumar, who was today (Nov 24,2005) sworn in as the 33rd Chief Minister of politically volatile Bihar, has emerged on top, capping his journey from being an astute political strategist to the occupant of the top post.

Blending his secularist ideology with pragmatic politics, Kumar has been the mascot of NDA's fight against the 15-year Lalu-Rabri rule, whipping up a new caste configuration that led to the electoral meltdown of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led Secular Democratic Front.

His taking over the reins in Bihar also finally helped rid of the tag of being a permanent aspirant for the top post, especially after a brief seven-day tryst with Chief Minister ship in March 2000 when he was sworn in despite National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lacking a majority.

Often called 'Chanakya' (the wily Prime Minister of Magadh empire in ancient times) for his political astuteness, Kumar, the 54-year-old trained engineer with stubble on his face, has finally donned the mantle of Chandragupta the emperor.

His strong views on job reservations for OBCs and Dalit muslims notwithstanding, the wily craftsman of modern day politics did the delicate balancing act keeping votaries of both hardliners in his party Janata Dal (JD) United (U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) together.

Kumar, a socialist of Ram Manohar Lohia mould, plunged into student politics during his days at Bihar College of Engineering and was a key leader of 1974 students' movement under legendary Jayaprakash Narayan which culminated in the fall of Indira Gandhi regime and installation of the first non-Congress government in India 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 the entire country. Luck did not smile on him again in 1980 assembly polls when Congress staged a remarkable comeback after the failed Janata Party experiment.

Though his contemporaries like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan tasted electoral victory to enter the Lok Sabha in 1977, success was slow in coming for the son of a 'vaidya' Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh.

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

Clear-headed and articulate, Kumar made his mark as one of the most effective speakers and his proximity to Haryana Jat leader Devi Lal enabled him to secure a ticket to contest 1989 Lok Sabha elections from Barh against Congress heavyweight and former union minister Ramlakhan Singh Yadav whom he defeated.

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

Kumar received a setback in 2004 Lok Sabha elections when RJD's Vijay Krishna defeated him in his pocket borough of Barh but he won adjoining Nalanda seat vacated by JD(U) president George Fernandes who shifted to his old Muzaffarpur constituency.