Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav’s home was visited by state assembly speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary on Sunday amid the political unrest in Bihar following Rajiv Ranjan Singh’s resignation as JD (U) chief. Tej Pratap, the environment minister, accompanied the speaker of the Vidhan Sabha. following Nitish Kumar’s assumption of leadership of the party following Singh’s resignation as party chief. Meanwhile, talk of Nitish’s potential move is rife in the state’s political circles. At a meeting of the party’s national executive in Delhi on Friday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was unanimously re-elected as the party’s president, ushering in a new era for the JD(U).
This came after Rajiv Ranjan Singh, popularly known as Lalan Singh, resigned from the post. It is not the first time Nitish Kumar has taken over as president of the party.
In 2016, he became party president after replacing Sharad Yadav. In 2013, he broke ranks with the NDA after a 17-year alliance following the announcement of Narendra Modi as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
Kumar, who harboured prime ministerial ambitions himself, took offence with BJP nominating Modi for the top post.
In 2017, Kumar forged a grand alliance with RJD and Congress and returned as chief minister in 2015. He walked out of the grand alliance in 2017, accusing the RJD of corruption and choking governance in the state.
In 2022, Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the BJP once again, alleging the BJP was conspiring against him and trying to influence JD-U MLAs to rebel against him.