Edited by Deepali Verma
Nitish Kumar’s re-election as President of Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United) happened unanimously at a meeting of the party’s national executive in Delhi on the afternoon of December 29. The re-appointed came minutes after aide Lalan Singh stepped down bringing an end to weeks of frenzied speculation.
In conversation with reporters immediately after the meeting, Mr Singh shot down rumours 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 that Lalan Singh was removed as he was seen getting 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 under preparations to take over.
There was also some consternation in the JDU after BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh got vocal about Lalu Yadav telling him “… the JDU will merge with RJD soon”.
Tejashwi Yadav himself dismissed these rumours by and as an extension, accused the opposition BJP of “planting stories” to destabilise the JDU-RJD alliance in the state. Mr Yadav’s reaction was after the BJP’s Sushil Modi – who was the Deputy Chief Minister till Nitish Kumar quit that alliance – claimed the JDU is employing rumours in re-allying with the BJP to keep the RJD and Congress in check.
Officially, Lalan Singh has reasoned with Nitish Kumar that he wanted more time to focus on his constituency before the next year’s election. Mr Singh is a twice elected Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Munger. Bihar Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary remarked, “Lalan Singh informed he will be busy with elections… so wants to transfer the post of party President to Chief Minister… and Nitish Kumar was in it acceptance of it.”
The change in the JDU’s top leadership is placed months before the 2024 Lok Sabha election and speculation over Nitish Kumar’s prime ministerial ambitions in that race. There had also been claims that 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 collectively dismissed the rumours of rifts within INDIA after that incident, when it was suggested the Congress chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, be the bloc’s prime ministerial candidate.
Sources suggest that Nitish Kumar was unhappy with Lalan Singh as he failed to project his name.
Mr Kharge’s name was proposed by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal. Publicly, Nitish Kumar has not insisted on any such ambitions, and only wants to unite parties opposed to the BJP. “I felt no disappointment….no resentment,” Nitish Kumar had said.
Albeit, Mr Kharge immediately dismissed the move pointing out that firstly the Congress, and the INDIA bloc had to win the election, and then could worry about the choice of a Prime Minister.
That incident is 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 Lalan Singh had said, “All is well in the INDIA bloc…”
The swap at the top of the JDU, though, was suspicious 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.
