Behind Bihar Jdu Rejig A Push For Survival After Nitish Kumars Cm Era

The 153-member Bihar state committee announced by JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha Wednesday underlines the party’s attempt to balance regional, caste and gender representation while accommodating senior leaders.

The committee, the largest constituted by the party in recent years, comprises 12 vice-presidents, 38 general secretaries, 74 state secretaries, nine spokespersons, 19 office-bearers at the helm of 16 party cells, and a treasurer.

The announcement comes less than three months after the JD(U) unveiled its 24-member national executive on April 22, with Nitish Kumar continuing as the party’s national president and Sanjay Kumar Jha as its national working president. In this organisational rejig – which was carried out days after Nitish stepped down as the Chief Minister to make way for BJP leader Samrat Choudhary in his position – former Jehanabad MP Chandeshwar Prasad Chandravanshi was appointed national vice-president, while 12 national general secretaries were named including Manish Kumar Verma, Afaque Ahmad Khan, Shyam Rajak, Ashok Choudhary, Ramsevak Singh, Ramesh Singh Kushwaha, Kahkeshan Parveen, and Maulana Ghulam Rasool Baliawi.

Taken together, the JD(U)’s back-to-back organisational overhauls appear to be more than a routine exercise following internal elections and signal a concerted effort to keep the party organisation intact after Nitish’s exit as the CM.

The composition of the new Bihar JD(U) committee reflects the party’s social strategy. It highlights the party’s emphasis on its traditional support base among the OBC Luv-Kush (Kurmi-Koeri) combine, Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), Dalits and women. Of the 153 members, 32 are women while seven Muslim leaders have also been inducted, including senior party leader Anjum Ara, who has been appointed general secretary.

The committee is dominated by leaders from the Kurmi-Koeri and EBC communities, which have formed the core of the JD(U)’s social coalition under Nitish over the past two decades.

The exercise appears to serve two broad objectives. First: maintaining caste and regional balance. “A party like the JD(U) depends on a broad coalition of social groups, including the EBCs, Kurmis, Kushwahas and sections of the upper castes. A larger organisation ensures that every community or region feels represented,” a senior JD(U) leader said.

The party’s second objective is managing internal aspirations. “There are always more aspirants than available MLA tickets or ministerial berths. Party posts such as vice-president, general secretary or secretary help accommodate senior workers and reduce the risk of defections,” the party leader said. A larger committee also enables the party to assign district and organisational responsibilities to more leaders ahead of the Assembly elections, he added.

Among the 12 new vice-presidents are Singheshwar MLA Ramesh Rishidev, former MP Mahabali Singh, former minister Vinod Yadav, MLC Sanjay Singh, former ministers Sumit Kumar Singh and Manjar Alam, Purnia MLA Kaladhar Mandal, Prof Pramila Kumari Prajapati, Gyan Chand Patel, Malti Singh, Kiran Ranjan, and Parshuram Tatwa.

The 38 general secretaries include Ara, former MLAs Manju Devi, Achmit Rishidev and Amrendra Pratap Singh, along with Ranvijay Kumar, Hyder Iqbal Khan, Santosh Das Pan and Pawan Chandravanshi. Besides reinforcing the party’s Kurmi-Koeri base, the appointments give significant representation to EBC communities such as Prajapati (Kumhar), Kanu, Mandal, Tatwa, Pan and Chaurasia, while the Scheduled Caste (SC) groups have also been given a sizeable share.

The JD(U) also announced the heads of its 16 organisational cells, with particular emphasis on media and outreach. Manish Kumar has been made head of media, IT and communication, which has five in-charges. Bablu Mandal will head the EBC cell, Nitish Patel the youth cell and Shiv Rani Prajapati the women’s cell.

Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. Expertise He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Read More