Janata Dal (United) veteran Nitish Kumar, known for his political flip flops, finally pulled a curtain on his innings in Bihar politics and took oath as a Rajya Sabha member on Friday.Nitish, 75, has been elected to the upper house from Bihar as a nominee of the BJP-led NDA bloc.Nitish began his political innings as an MLA from Bihar in 1985 and went on to serve as a union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.He became Bihar CM for seven days in 2000 and later returned with a full mandate in 2005, staying CM till today, barring a brief period when he nominated Jitan Ram Majhi in his place.Nitish Kumar’s Rajya Sabha entry will pave the way for the BJP to install its own CM in Bihar, which would be a first ever for the party.Sources say the new government will take shape after Baisakhi on April 13.As for Nitish Kumar, he remains by far the only politician who has been reelected despite his frequent dalliance with the Mahagathbandhan led by RJD and the NDA led by BJP.Since Nitish first quit the NDA in 2013, ending a 17-year alliance, over Narendra Modi’s elevation as BJP’s PM face, he has switched camps on four occasions.January 2024 witnessed his fifth and final swap.After posting JD(U)’s worst ever Lok Sabha performance (just two seats, down from 20 which it won in 2009 as part of NDA) in 2014, a year after leaving the BJP-led NDA, Nitish Kumar contested the 2015 Bihar polls in alliance with the RJD, Congress and Left.Soon he began veering towards the BJP, backing Modi on demonetisation and GST.In 2017, after the CBI booked RJD chief Lalu Yadav, his wife and son Tejashwi in a case regarding award of tender to maintain two railway hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006, Nitish started distancing himself from the RJD and returned to the NDA.In the 2019 LS polls that followed, Nitish was part of NDA, which swept Bihar, winning 39 out of 40 segments. JDU won 16, BJP 17 and LJP 6.In 2020, Nitish contested Bihar elections with the BJP and was installed as CM. Sensing BJP’s attempts to split his party, Nitish again switched sides and on August 9, 2022 called off his alliance with the BJP. He stayed CM with the RJD and Congress backing.Nitish’s January 2024 move was rooted in RJD’s attempts to destabilise him in the state.Every time the Bihar veteran has sensed danger to his dominance in the CMO, he has swapped partners to secure his chair.Now, before coming to Delhi, he has introduced his son Nishant, a political greenhorn to the JD(U). Nishant has been travelling all over Bihar to gain political capital. But it will be long before he can fill his father’s shoes.