JD(U) appoints Sanjay Jha as the party’s working president, seeks special status for Bihar

At its national executive meet held in Delhi on June 29, Bihar’s ruling party, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), appointed party leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Jha as its working president, and passed a resolution demanding special status or a special package for Bihar.

Mr. Jha has been close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and is seen as having been instrumental in re-joining the JD(U) with the BJP. Mr. Kumar is currently the party’s national president.

“Our national party president has entrusted a big responsibility to me by appointing me as the working president of the party. We will try to work with ally BJP, maintaining more coordination,” Mr. Jha told media persons in Delhi after his appointment.

He recalled the Bihar that was when Mr. Kumar took over as the CM 19 years ago. “What sort of Bihar did Mr. Kumar take 19 years ago?” Mr. Jha said, adding, “…whatever growth and development has been done in Bihar in the last 19 years is because of its own resources.”

“Despite 19 years of regime, there has been no anti-incumbency against Mr. Kumar in the State and this was reflected in the just-concluded Lok Sabha election result,” Mr. Jha said, showering praise on Mr. Kumar.

When asked about the JD(U)‘s resolution seeking special category status or a special package for Bihar at the party’s national meet, Mr. Jha expressed hope the demand would be met. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always paid attention to Bihar and I do hope that the party’s demand for special category status or a package for the State will be met,” he said.

However, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, in a post on social media platform X, wondered if the demand would be forceful enough. “Would (Bihar) chief minister dare to pass such a resolution from state’s cabinet as well? Would chief minister of Bihar put this demand forcefully?” Mr. Ramesh said.

Mr. Jha is also the JD(U)‘s floor leader in the Rajya Sabha. Hailing from Jhanjharpur in Bihar’s Madhubani district, he was earlier with the BJP and joined the JD(U) in 2012. He unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election on a JD(U) ticket from the Darbhanga parliamentary constituency against the BJP’s Kirti Jha Azad. Later, he was sent to the Bihar Legislative Council, and served thrice as Minister of State in the Water Resources Department in governments led by Mr. Kumar. He is also considered the JD(U)’s upper caste Brahmin face.

Mr. Jha is also said to have been instrumental in bringing the JD(U) back to the BJP’s fold in January this year to form a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the State again. When in the BJP, Mr. Jha was close to the late senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley who, party sources recalled, introduced Mr. Jha to Mr. Kumar. Party sources also told The Hindu that Mr. Jha was chosen for the post of working president of JD(U) as he “maintains a good relationship with both the BJP and the JD(U)”. The ruling alliance partners have joined hands and snapped ties several times in Bihar since November 2005, when Mr. Kumar first became the Chief Minister of the State.

Bihar’s political circles are also rife with speculation that State BJP president Samrat Choudhary, too, will be replaced soon from his post. Recently, senior State BJP leader and former party MP Ashwini Kumar Choubey, in an oblique reference to Mr. Choudhary, had said that “imported leaders” were “never acceptable” to him. Mr. Choudhary was formerly with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

The names of party MLA and leaders Sanjeev Chaurasia and R.C.P. Singh are doing the rounds for the State party president’s post. Mr. Singh, a former JD(U) national president, was earlier a close confidant of Mr. Kumar for several years but later joined the BJP and has remained in political oblivion ever since Mr. Kumar and his party re-joined hands with the BJP in January.