PATNA: Janata Dal (United) workers intensified their protest on Friday, urging chief minister and party supremo Nitish Kumar to reconsider his decision to move to the Rajya Sabha. A day earlier, Nitish had filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections from Bihar.
Terming the decision to send Nitish to the Upper House of Parliament as a conspiracy, a large number of JD(U) workers gathered outside the state party office and vented their ire against Nitish’s sudden decision. Posters were also erected in Patna requesting him to reconsider the move.
A group of people, allegedly JD(U) workers, were also seen blackening a poster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state capital. Bihar JD(U) president Umesh Singh Kushwaha, who reached the party office, claimed that the protesters were not associated with his party.
He expressed surprise over the protests organised by JD(U) workers. “This is the decision of Nitish Ji. Nobody has exerted pressure on him. It’s his own decision and nobody can challenge his decision,” he told the media.
On the other hand, security has been beefed up around the chief minister’s residence (1, Anne Marg) in view of the protest amid a surcharged political atmosphere in the state following the new political development.
Meanwhile, Nitish has convened a meeting of JD(U) MPs, MLAs and MLCs this evening. Deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha met Nitish and reportedly discussed the formation of the next government.
Senior leaders, including JD(U) MLC Vinay Choudhary, urged Nitish to reconsider his decision in the wake of workers’ demand. “What happened in three months that such a major decision was taken by him. We will express our views frankly in the meeting,” he added.
Sources said Nitish’s son Nishant may be handed the reins of JD(U) after the meeting with party MPs, MLAs and MLCs. However, the names of several other leaders, including the party’s national working president Sanjay Jha, Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh, and state ministers Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Ashok Choudhary, are also doing the rounds.
However, party insiders said divisions among different camps within JD(U) have complicated the leadership transition. Amid this uncertainty, Nishant has emerged as a possible consensus candidate for the party’s top post.