PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) on Wednesday constituted 98 members strong national executive in an apparent bid by the party to get itself together ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The list, issued by the party’s national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh ”Lalan”, predictably puts at the top the name of the chief minister, the JD(U)’s veritable supreme leader.
(1/2) जनता दल (यूनाइटेड) की राष्ट्रीय कार्यकारिणी के नवनियुक्त सभी पदाधिकारियों को हार्दिक बधाई।#JDU #Bihar #NitishKumar #BiharModel#NitishModel pic.twitter.com/Tf5qQUJGH4
— Janata Dal (United) (@Jduonline) August 23, 2023
Besides Lalan, who is also the leader of the JD(U)’s parliamentary party, other prominent names in the list include veteran leader KC Tyagi, one of the most visible faces in the media, who holds the designation of ”special advisor and chief spokesman”.
All members of the party in both Houses of Parliament, except Harivansh, the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, figure in the list and so do all JD(U) ministers in the state cabinet.
The party has 16 MPs, all from Bihar, in the Lok Sabha, and five, including Harivansh, in the Rajya Sabha. In the nearly 30 members strong state cabinet, the party has 12 ministers, besides the CM.
While leaders from Bihar, including sitting and former members of Parliament and state legislature and other office bearers, make up a chunk of the national executive, there are clear attempts to expand footprints beyond the state.
Its leaders in the Northeast, where the JD(U) accuses former ally BJP of having poached most of its MLAs, find ample representation in the national executive.
These include MLAs from Manipur and Nagaland and heads of state units there and in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
Adjoining Uttar Pradesh, from where rumours of Kumar contesting Lok Sabha elections to challenge BJP in its biggest stronghold keep doing the rounds, is represented by former Jaunpur MP and JD(U) national general secretary Dhananjay Singh and state president Satyender Patel.
Other state presidents in the list are from neighbouring West Bengal and Jharkhand, besides many far-off states like Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Source: Press Trust of India
