The decision to this effect was taken by the party national executive, which unanimously elected Nitish Kumar, at a meeting here on Sunday.
Former chief of the party Sharad Yadav, who headed the organisation for over 10 years, stepped down from the post on April 4.
Party rules were earlier amended to enable Yadav to continue as JD-U chief as there was no provision for even a third term, JD-U spokesman K.C. Tyagi had told IANS.
Interestingly, the meeting to elect the party president continued on even after fire broke out at Parliament Annexe building, where the JD-U national executive meeting was taking place.