Nitish Kumar Steps Down As JD(U) President; RCP Singh Roped In As Party Chief Amid Tiff With BJP

Nitish Kumar has decided to relinquish the post of party president and proposed the name of RCP Singh for the same.

Image: Janata Dal (United)/Twitter

Amid the ongoing tiff with ally Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday stepped down as Janata Dal (United) President. Kumar has elected Ramchandra Prasad Singh, a member of the Rajya Sabha, to lead the party. Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi in a press briefing on Sunday confirmed the development saying that Nitish Kumar has decided to relinquish the post of party president and proposed the name of RCP Singh for the same. As per the announcement, RCP Singh has been elected as new party chief for next three years. As reported by news agency PTI, Kumar proposed the name of Singh, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, for the top post. Singh was so far the general secretary of the regional party. The decision to rope him as the party chief was approved by other members during the party’s national executive meeting. Singh is known to be close to Nitish Kumar, and from now on, will look after the party's affairs, including its dealings with the BJP. It is pertinent to mention that the development has come at the time when all is not well in the ruling National Democratic Alliance. Earlier this week, JD(U) suffered a major jolt in Arunachal Pradesh as six of its seven MLAs joined BJP a day ahead of the announcement of the panchayat and municipal poll results. Following the switchover, the BJP now has 48 MLAs in the 60-member House, while the JD(U) is left with only one. This shows that the saffron party is playing a role of a dominant partner in the alliance.