Nitish Kumar was elected the chief of Janata Dal today.
Highlights
- Sharad Yadav, party president for three terms, didn't seek a fourth term
- Nitish Kumar is JDU's most popular face and familiar to voters all across
- Kumar's appointment will give it more leverage in run up to 2019 polls
The expected change of guard in the Janata Dal United took place today with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar replacing Sharad Yadav as the party president.
Mr Yadav, who had been president for three terms, did not seek a fourth.
The election took place in Delhi this morning.
Mr Kumar had been Mr Yadav's staunch ally during the party election in 2006, when he replaced George Fernandes as the chief.
Mr Fernandes, a former mentor of Mr Kumar, became the chief when JDU was formed following a merger between his Samata Party and Janata Dal faction headed by Mr Yadav in 2003.
In 2013, the party constitution was amended to enable Mr Yadav to become the chief for a record third time.
JD(U) party sources said installing Mr Kumar as the president of the party will give it more leverage across the country in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as the Bihar Chief Minister is the party's most popular face and familiar to voters across the country.
Mr Kumar's immediate task is to expand his party's political base by uniting splinter Janata parivar groups like Ajit Singh's Lok Dal and Babu Lal Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, said senior party leader KC Tyagi.
But after Mr Kumar's Bihar success, the question that's being asked in political circles is if he is now looking for a bigger role in Delhi before 2019 Lok Sabha polls and if the party president-ship is the first step in that journey.