Ramchandra Prasad Singh, a close confidant of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and a Rajya Sabha MP, was on Sunday chosen as the new president of Janata Dal (United). Kumar had proposed the name of Singh for the top post, which was then approved by other members during the party's national executive meeting on Sunday. However, the chief minister had his wish to appoint him as the JDU chief to senior leaders a few days ago.
The chief minister, who was re-elected as the JD(U) president in 2019 for three years, relinquished the post in favour of Singh, its leader in Rajya Sabha.
Singh, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, was so far the general secretary of the regional party. He also belongs to the same caste as the Chief Minister. Singh has been working with the chief minister for years now. He was Nitish Kumar's personal secretary during his days as the Railways Minister. Singh then became the principal secretary when Kumar became the Chief Minister of Bihar in 2005.
The JD(U) is holding its national executive meeting to deliberate on issues related to the country's political situation after six out of the party's seven MLAs switched over to the BJP. The decision to make Singh the head of the party means Nitish Kumar will slowly become unavailable to its National Democratic Alliance ally. Singh will look after the party's affairs, including its dealings with the BJP.
(With agency inputs)
