A fresh political row has erupted in Bihar after the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) questioned the educational qualifications of Nishant Kumar, the son of former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The controversy centres on claims made by the opposition party that Nishant Kumar, long referred to by many as an engineer, never completed his engineering degree and is not a graduate. According to the RJD, Nishant is only Class 12 pass, having left his engineering course midway.
The issue gained traction after details from Nishant Kumar’s election affidavit came into the public domain. As per the affidavit, he completed his Class 12 education from Patna Science College in 1998 and subsequently enrolled in the Bachelor of Engineering programme at Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Ranchi.
However, the affidavit reportedly states that Nishant did not complete the course. He is said to have studied only five of the eight semesters required for the degree before leaving the programme in 2001. The document also records that he is not a graduate.
Seizing on the disclosure, the RJD launched a sharp attack on Nitish Kumar and the Janata Dal (United), accusing them of allowing a misleading public image to persist.
In a post on X, the party said: “Son of Nitish Kumar, whom people kept calling an engineer, has turned out to be only Class 12 pass. In his election affidavit, he himself has stated that he is not a graduate. The layers of people who spent their entire life doing drama in the name of opposing dynastic politics will now be exposed.”
The opposition argues that the issue extends beyond educational qualifications and raises questions about the image cultivated around Nishant Kumar over the years. Several JD(U) leaders had publicly referred to him as an engineer, while neither Nitish Kumar nor Nishant Kumar had publicly disputed those descriptions.
The controversy has acquired political significance in a state where the educational backgrounds of political leaders have frequently become subjects of public debate.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has often faced criticism from NDA leaders over being a school dropout, while Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary has also found himself at the centre of controversies related to claims about his educational qualifications.
With the latest revelations, the RJD is attempting to turn the spotlight on the JD(U), arguing that those who questioned others over education and dynastic politics are now confronting similar scrutiny themselves.
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