JD(U) new national team likely after Delhi results

PATNA: JD(U) is likely to announce its national office-bearers soon after the Delhi assembly poll results on February 11.

Sources in JD(U) said party president and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, during his recent stay in the national capital, discussed the issue with senior party leaders. “Though the reconstitution of national team is already due following the re-election of Nitish as the party’s national president in October last year, the matter got a fresh momentum after unceremonious expulsion of Prashant Kishor and

Pavan K Varma

from the party,” a senior leader told TOI on Tuesday.

Kishor and Varma were expelled from JD(U) for “anti-party activities” on January 29 this year after months of their bitter differences with Nitish over Citizenship (Amendment) Act and certain related issues.

Their expulsion led to further shrinking in the strength of the party’s national office-bearers. Poll strategist Kishor was appointed JD(U)’s national vice-president by Nitish himself on October 16, 2018. Now that Kishor is out from the party, there is no vice-president in JD(U). Varma was the JD(U) national general secretary.

In November 2016, when Nitish had announced his first national team, there were nine national general secretaries, six national secretaries and one treasurer.

“In the last three years, three of the nine general secretaries left the party after Nitish decided to realign with the BJP in 2017. One more general secretary, Harivansh, quit the post after he was elected deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha in August 2018. In the meantime, Sanjay Jha and

Afaque Ahmad Khan

were made new general secretaries. Thus, there were seven general secretaries in the party till Varma was expelled, bringing down the number to six,” pointed out a party leader.