A look into the personal life of the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. Here's everything you need to know about his late wife, Manju Kumari Sinha, who died 34 years after marriage.
Nitish Kumar is the current Chief Minister of Bihar and once again turned out to be a significant force during the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. Before the elections, most of the political analysts stated that Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) would not win more than 4-5 seats in Bihar. However, on June 4, 2024, the Election Commission of India announced that NDA won 30 seats, while the INDIA bloc secured just nine seats. The massive victory positioned Nitish Kumar as a 'Kingmaker' who could now bargain for big things.
After the 2024 General Elections, while the INDIA bloc is trying to lure Nitish Kumar, reports are rife that he would be the next Deputy Prime Minister after forming the government with the BJP. Amidst all the alleged offers and temptations that Nitish Kumar will be receiving in the coming weeks, we take a look at his personal life, which presents a completely different side of the politician. We are talking about his late wife, Manju Kumari Sinha, who was his biggest strength. Here's a look at their beautiful love story that proves Nitish Kumar is a 'loyal person' in his personal life.
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According to a report in the Quint, Bihar's Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar got married to Manju Kumari Sinha on February 23, 1973. It was an inter-caste marriage fixed by their respective families. While Nitish is an OBC, his wife, Manju is Kayastha. At the time, when Nitish Kumar started to understand the complexities of politics, his wife, Manju was working as a teacher in a school.
Right from an early age, Nitish Kumar has been condemning several societal evils like dowry and child marriage. For instance, he got extremely furious at his wedding when he got to know that his parents had accepted Rs. 22,000 during the tilak ceremony.
Nitish Kumar immediately returned the money to his in-laws and strictly told his parents that he would never accept a dowry. After this, Nitish Kumar tied the knot with Manju Kumari Sinha at court without any fancy arrangements. The wedding cards were printed again as the date and venue were changed.
Bihar's Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar suffered a major heartbreak when his wife, Manju Kumari Sinha passed away in 2007. After 34 years of their happy married life, Manju's demise came as a massive shock for Nitish and their son, Nishant Kumar. For the unversed, Manju Kumari passed away due to pneumonia.
Nitish Kumar was born on March 1, 1951, in Bihar's Bakhtiarpur to his parents, Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh and Parmeshwari Devi. While his father was an Ayurvedic practitioner, little is known about his mother, who was from Nepal. After completing his schooling, Nitish took admission to Bihar College of Engineering (now NIT Patna), in 1972 in order to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. After completing his graduation, Nitish Kumar got a job at the Bihar State Electricity Board.
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Despite getting an impressive job at BSEB, Nitish Kumar didn't feel elated, as his heart was in politics. For the uninitiated, Nitish participated in Bharat Ratna recipient, Jayaprakash Narayan's movement from 1974 to 1977. After gaining some political experience, Nitish Kumar joined the Janata Party and started learning the chops of politics from renowned political leaders like Satyendra Narain Sinha. At the age of 26, Nitish Kumar fought in the 1997 Lok Sabha Elections from Harnaut but lost.
In 1980, Nitish Kumar tried again but once again tasted defeat in the elections. After facing two defeats with the Janata party, Nitish had decided to leave politics. However, after some discussions with his close ones, he took part in the 1985 elections and won the state assembly from Harnaut. Since then, he has become Bihar's Chief Minister for nine times. Not only this, Nitish Kumar is also Bihar's longest-serving Chief Minister with 17 years and 288 days.
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Apart from being the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar has also held a lot of positions in his illustrious political career so far. From serving as the Union Cabinet Minister, Agriculture to Union Cabinet Minister, Railways, Nitish Kumar has left his mark on every department he has worked in. Fast forward to 2024, and he is undoubtedly one of the biggest politicians in the country, courtesy of his dominance in Bihar. It's incredible how a youngster nicknamed 'Munna' from Bakhtiarpur went on to become one of the most powerful politicians in Indian politics.
What are your thoughts on Nitish Kumar's beautiful love story and inspirational political career? Let us know.
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