Nitish Kumar was unanimously re-elected as President of Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United) at a meeting of the party’s national executive in Delhi on Friday afternoon. The Bihar Chief Minister was re-appointed minutes after aide Lalan Singh stepped down, ending weeks of frenzied speculation.
Speaking to reporters immediately after the meeting, Mr Singh shot down talk of a rift in the party, and said, “Anger? What anger? Why should I be angry? This is the first time I am hearing this word.”
Sources said Lalan Singh was removed because he was seen as being a little too close to the JDU’s alliance partner in Bihar – Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal – amid talk that RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is Lalu Yadav’s son and the Deputy Chief Minister, is being prepped to take over.
There was also some consternation in the JDU after BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh’s claim that Lalu Yadav had told him “… the JDU will merge with RJD soon”.
That buzz was dismissed by Tejashwi Yadav himself, who accused the opposition BJP of “planting stories” to destabilise the JDU-RJD alliance in the state. Mr Yadav’s reaction came after the BJP’s Sushil Modi – who was the Deputy Chief Minister till Nitish Kumar quit that alliance – claimed the JDU was spreading rumours about re-allying with the BJP to keep the RJD and Congress in check.
Officially, though, Lalan Singh told Nitish Kumar he wanted more time to focus on his constituency ahead of next year’s election. Mr Singh is a two-time Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Munger. Bihar Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said, “Lalan Singh said he will be busy with elections… so wants to hand over post of party President to Chief Minister… and Nitish Kumar has accepted it.”
The change in the JDU’s top leadership also comes months before the 2024 Lok Sabha election and speculation over Nitish Kumar’s prime ministerial ambitions in that race. The JDU boss was apparently passed over as a potential PM candidate for the INDIA opposition bloc earlier this month.
Nitish Kumar and the JDU played rubbished rumours of rifts within INDIA after that incident, when it was suggested the Congress chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, be the bloc’s prime ministerial candidate.
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Sources have said Nitish Kumar was unhappy with Lalan Singh as he failed to project his name.
Mr Kharge was proposed by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal. Publicly, Nitish Kumar has insisted has no such ambitions, and only wants to unite parties opposed to the BJP. “I felt no disappointment….no resentment,” Nitish Kumar had said.
Mr Kharge, though, immediately squashed the move, pointing out the Congress, and the INDIA bloc, first had to win the election, and could then worry about choosing a Prime Minister.
That incident had highlighted what many see as serious rifts within the INDIA bloc, which is supposed to unite the opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. However, the JDU had brushed aside any such talk and, in fact, Lalan Singh had said, “All is well in INDIA bloc…”
READ | “All’s Well”: Bihar Ruling Alliance Denies Nitish Kumar “Upset”, INDIA Rift
The swap at the top of the JDU, though, has raised eyebrows in many circles, with critics of the party pointing to Nitish Kumar’s mercurial temperament, specifically the manner in which he dropped the BJP as an ally in August last year. That was after the JDU fared badly in the 2020 election, winning only 45 seats, and Nitish Kumar returned as Chief Minister thanks to the BJP’s 74 seats.
