‘Nitish thought of doing business after 2 defeats’

Nitish Kumar was defeated by Congress nominee Bhola Singh in 1977 and 1980 from Harnaut seat

Following two successive defeats in the Assembly elections of 1977 and 1980, present Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had pondered to start some business, says a new book. Mr. Kumar was defeated by Congress nominee Bhola Singh in 1977 and 1980 from Harnaut seat.

He had then told his close friend Munna Sarkar, “Aese kaise hoga, lagta hai koi business karna hoga (This will not do, it seems I have to take up some business now),” says the book written by journalist Santosh Singh.

“Nitish’s family had been getting impatient with his failure. The choice of taking up a job on the basis of his Engineering degree was still there. “Nitishji asked his wife Manju, who was a teacher at a government high school at her paternal village of Seodah, to give him one last chance with politics at the 1985 elections,” the book titled “Ruled or Misruled” says.

Facing a strong opponent in Bhola Singh who enjoyed big clout, Mr Kumar’s friends mobilised donation for him to contest the 1985 poll.

“While Nitish had been fighting his political battle, we had decided to take any measure to counter his opponent this time to ensure his win. Manju (Nitish Kumar’s wife) gave Rs 20,000 from her accumulated savings,” the book quoting his friend Narendra says.

Finally, Nitish won the 1985 elections and reached the Assembly, it said trailing Kumar’s political background.

The 339 page book mentions many interesting tales about Kumar, Lalu Prasad and Sushil Kumar Modi, all products of the 1974 movement launched by Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan.