As Nitish Kumar takes over, Lalan Singh dropped from JD(U) new list of office bearers

Patna: In a significant reshuffle within the Janata Dal (United) after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took charge as the party president succeeding Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, the party on Saturday came out with a new list of national office bearers. Veteran socialist leader Vashishth Narayan Singh, a close aide of Kumar who stepped down as the state unit chief three years ago citing health reasons, has been made the national vice president. This move follows Lalan Singh's exit, who played a crucial role in steering the break between the BJP-JDU alliance and forming ties with Lalu Yadav's RJD in August 2022.

As per sources, this shift in leadership was followed by a rift between Lalan Singh and Nitish Kumar which was triggered by recent developments within the INDI alliance's strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The decision to replace Lalan Singh came in the wake of a growing discord between him and Nitish Kumar, triggered by recent developments in the INDI alliance's strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The rift intensified due to the alliance's decision not to nominate Nitish Kumar as the convener or the Prime Ministerial face for the upcoming elections, said sources.

The revamped list of national office bearers includes notable changes, with Mangani Lal Mandal being named a national general secretary, and KC Tyagi designated as the ‘political advisor and spokesperson’. The number of national general secretaries has been reduced to 11 from the previous 22.

Sanjay Kumar Jha, the only Bihar minister in the list, and other key figures like Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi, Afaque Ahmed Khan, and Kahkashan Parveen have been retained as national general secretaries. However, Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi has been dropped.

Prominent Muslim member Ghulam Rasool Baliyavi has been dropped from the list, while loyalists like Kapil Harishchandra Patil and Alok Kumar Suman have been retained in key positions.

Notably absent from the list of general secretaries are five sitting Lok Sabha MPs, a move seen as an effort to allow them to focus on the upcoming elections. Alok Kumar Suman, the MP from the reserved Gopalganj seat, has been retained as the treasurer.

The list also introduces six national secretaries, including Sunil Kumar alias "Engineer" and Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, who frequently represents the party in news channel debates. However, Gangster-turned-politician Dhananjay Singh has been dropped from the new list of national general secretaries.