Nitish may stay as Bihar CM, but should step down as JD(U) chief: Kushwaha

Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who had quit the JD(U) two years ago, on Sunday said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should give up the reins of the party, which has new hope in the supreme leader's son Nishant.

Kushwaha, who has now floated his outfit Rashtriya Lok Morcha, came up with a post on his X handle, extending birthday greetings to his former mentor's son.

Learnt from social media that it is the birthday of Nishant, the son of big brother (bade bhai), respectable Nitish Kumar. On this occasion, heartiest greetings to Nishant, the new hope of JD(U). May God always keep him happy and healthy, said the Rajya Sabha MP.

I take this opportunity to make a humble request to Shri Nitish Kumar ji that it is no longer feasible for him to run both the government as well as the party, said Kushwaha, who has been in and out of the JD(U) at least thrice.

The NDA partner, however, made it clear that he was not suggesting that the 75-year-old, whom the coalition has declared as its face for the upcoming assembly polls, discontinue as chief minister.

Kushwaha said Kumar has a long experience in running the government, and it is in the interests of the state that he continues. But there must be a concrete decision on passing over the mantle of the party. This is not just my opinion but that of thousands of workers of the JD(U).

Any delay in taking a decision will cause irreparable harm to the party, he asserted.

"I am saying something that most JD(U) leaders cannot think of directly communicating to the Chief Minister, said Kushwaha, who was the party's parliamentary board chairman until his exit in 2023, when he alleged that Kumar had struck a deal for merger with arch rival Lalu Prasad's RJD.

A year later, Kumar did yet another political volte-face, snapping ties with the RJD and returning to the BJP-led coalition.

Reacting to Kushwaha's statement, JD(U) chief spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar said, Each and every worker of the party is standing with Nitish Kumar, having full faith in his leadership. As regards Nishant, only he and his father can take a decision in the matter.

Kushwaha had been in the JD(U) since its inception in 2003, when Kumar backed him for the post of leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

A few years later, after Kumar became the chief minister, Kushwaha parted ways and formed the Rashtriya Samata Party.

In 2009, he merged Rashtriya Samata Party with the JD(U) and Kumar rewarded him with a Rajya Sabha berth.

However, Kushwaha again fought with his mentor and quit the JD(U) in 2013 to form Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP).

In 2014, contesting as an NDA ally and riding the Modi wave, Kushwaha made his Lok Sabha debut and was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers.

However, he gave up the ministerial berth in 2018 and quit the NDA to join the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan. Two years later, he left the coalition and contested the 2020 assembly polls as Chief Ministerial candidate of an alliance that included Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM and Mayawati's BSP.

The RLSP drew a blank in the assembly polls, and a few months later, Kushwaha merged the party with the JD(U), and was again rewarded by Kumar with the post of parliamentary board chairman and a berth in the state legislative council.

In last year's Lok Sabha polls, Kushwaha finished third in Karkat, after CPI(ML) winner Raja Ram Kushwaha and runner-up Pawan Singh, Bhojpuri superstar who contested as an Independent candidate after refusing a BJP ticket from West Bengal.

In the more than 20-year-long journey of JD(U), Kumar has retained full control over the organisation, even though the post of national president, which he currently himself occupies, has been held by his trusted aides at different points in time.