Bihar: Is Lalan Singh Set to Share Fate of Sharad Yadav and RCP?

Patna: Is everything normal within Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United, as claimed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the de facto chief of the party, as claimed by him on Thursday, a day ahead of the much-awaited national executive and national council meetings of JD-U in Delhi?

Speculation is rife here that JD-U national president Lalan Singh is set to be replaced during the party meetings in Delhi.

In Patna, minutes before leaving for Delhi, Nitish Kumar had told the media here that “nothing unusual” would happen in the party meetings, emphasising that the meetings were not special, and the party was united.

However, Singh dismissed reports of his resignation. He told news agency PTI in Delhi that: “If I have to resign, I will call you (mediapersons), and consult you about what to write in the resignation letter so that you can go to the BJP office and get the draft,” indicating that a narrative was being set by the media at the behest of the saffron party.

Meanwhile, a senior JD-U leader close to Kumar told NewsClick that Singh was likely to resign during the meetings, and would be “either replaced by Kumar himself or someone close to him” as the new party president.

"Singh, in his address during the meetings, will announce his resignation, as suggested by Kumar, and his resignation will be accepted by the party. But the reality is that Singh was forced to step down by Kumar," he claimed.

Some local Hindi dailies have reported in recent days, suggesting that Kumar was “unhappy” with Singh over his growing closeness to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad. RJD is a major ally of the ruling Mahagathbandhan in the state.

As per media speculation, Singh reportedly favoured Lalu Prasad's stand that Kumar should quit as Chief Minister and make Tejashwi Yadav the new CM. Yadav is currently the Deputy Chief Minister.

Kumar’s detractors say that this is not the first time that he is “playing politics” within the party, which he has been treating as “his fiefdom” for over two decades.

According to sources in JD-U, Kumar has done this in the past also—he removed then JD-U president Sharad Yadav and R C P Singh after differences on running the party ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections.

"Singh is going to become another victim of Kumar's politics as he now wants to run the party as per his wish and single-handedly," a JD-U leader told NewsClick.

However, a strong political message has come from JD-U on December 28 that only Kumar matters, and he is the undisputed leader of the party now. Colourful posters and banners were put up at the party office in Delhi with a life-size photo of Kumar; Singh's photo was missing. Slogans on posters read "Pradesh me pehchana, ab desh bhi pehchanege," (set to conquer the country after the state – loose translation) signalling that Kumar wants full control of the party and is sending a political message to all.

In Bihar, Opposition BJP leaders started targeting Kumar and playing their old card that Lalu Prasad has made him “helpless”, and that his days as CM “are numbered”.

All eyes are now on JD-U's meetings in Delhi on Friday, where some significant decisions are likely to be made, possibly related to the Opposition bloc, INDIA, and seat sharing for next year's Lok Sabha polls.