How Nitin Nabin's BJP Is Sealing Nitish Kumar's Exit Options

Nitish Kumar may not be indispensable anymore

On 10 February 2026, Nitin Nabin walked into the Bihar Legislative Assembly for the first time since becoming the National Working President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

He was escorted by BJP MLAs chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Both Deputy Chief Ministers, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, were present. Coalition partner Janata Dal (United) (JDU) was left to watch the scene unfold.

Prem Kumar, the Assembly Speaker, called Nabin's ascent a matter of pride for Bihar. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, a senior JDU minister, called his elevation a natural choice. Nabin spoke for fifteen minutes, praising both Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for Bihar's transformation over two decades.

The overall display lasted 45 minutes, for the entirety of which, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the man often hailed as close to Nabin's family, was not inside the House.

Rather than reading it as a scheduling issue, his absence is seen as more of a growing concern regarding the BJP trying to overshadow JDU.

The Bridge Builders

Nabin's active presence in Bihar signals something different from the old model: a Modi-Shah appointee now in de-facto command of local units, rather than a homegrown BJPian confined to Patna's power circles and content to negotiate on the party's behalf. This is where the architecture of the BJP-JDU combination departs from a three-decade-old tradition...