Nitish Kumar takes oath as Rajya Sabha member

Bihar's long-time Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday took oath as a Rajya Sabha member, paving the way for a big leadership change in the state. He was administered the oath as a member of the upper house in the chamber of Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan  in the Parliament House. Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha J P Nadda, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Samrat Choudhary among others present on the occasion.

Vice President of India & Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, administered the oath to Shri Nitish Kumar as an elected Member of Rajya Sabha, from Bihar, at Parliament House today. pic.twitter.com/LktUSbuw08

— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) April 10, 2026

With Nitish Kumar assuming his role in the Rajya Sabha, his long tenure in Bihar came to an end. The ruling NDA is now likely to elect a new Chief Minister of the state on April 14. Nitish had already resigned as a member of the State Legislative Council. He stepped down on March 30 after being elected to the Rajya Sabha. The JD(U) chief was elected to the Upper House on March 16 and was required to resign as an MLC within the mandated 14-day period following his election.
A day before assuming his new role, Nitish Kumar travelled to Delhi confirmed that he would soon step down as chief minister. Explaining his decision, he told reporters that he believed he had completed much of his work in Bihar and now intended to focus on his responsibilities in Delhi.