JD(U) appoints Sanjay Jha as working president, seeks Bihar special status

Bihar: The Janata Dal (United) national executive meeting decides to appoint Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha as the party’s working president while chief minister Nitish Kumar would continue to be the national president.

The appointment of Jha as working president is said to be significant due to his good relationship with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership. He is also the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha.

Party sources said Jha is well-suited to secure favourable deals from the BJP and maintain a friendly relationship between the two parties, despite their history of rocky ties, PTI reported.

In the meeting, the BJP ally, now a major kingmaker in the current Lok Sabha, demanded strict action against those responsible for exam paper leaks and called for a strong law to prevent such incidents in the future.

The party’s national executive also passed a resolution seeking special category status or a special financial package from the central government for Bihar.

Bihar CM and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, Union ministers Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, along with other senior leaders from across the country, attended the meeting in Delhi.

Nitish Kumar returned to the NDA and took oath as Bihar CM with BJP’s support after leaving the alliance and joining the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in August 2022.

Kumar’s JD(U) contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BJP. The BJP-led NDA performed well, winning 29 out of the 40 seats. BJP and JD(U) each won 12 seats, while LJP (Ram Vilas) secured all five seats it contested. The RJD and Congress won four and three seats, respectively.