Nitish Kumar is JD U President, why Lalan Singh resigned and what he said after resignation?

In New Delhi, Nitish Kumar secured unanimous re-election as the President of the ruling Janata Dal (United) in Bihar during a national executive meeting on Friday. 

The Bihar Chief Minister was re-appointed minutes after aide Lalan Singh stepped down, ending weeks of intense speculation.

Lalan Singh dismissed rumors of internal discord within the party, stating, "Anger? What anger? Why should I be angry? This is the first time I am hearing this word," during a press interaction after the meeting.

Sources indicated that Lalan Singh's departure was linked to perceptions of his proximity to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the JDU's alliance partner in Bihar. Speculation arose about Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD leader and Deputy Chief Minister, being groomed to assume a leadership role.

The JDU also experienced unease after BJP leader Giriraj Singh asserted that Lalu Yadav had mentioned a potential merger between JDU and RJD. Tejashwi Yadav dismissed this claim, accusing the BJP of disseminating misinformation to destabilize the JDU-RJD alliance. 

Sushil Modi, formerly the Deputy Chief Minister before Nitish Kumar left the alliance, alleged that the JDU was spreading rumors about realigning with the BJP to counterbalance the RJD and Congress.

Officially, Lalan Singh expressed a desire for more time to focus on his constituency in preparation for the upcoming elections. Bihar Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary conveyed, "Lalan Singh said he will be busy with elections... so wants to hand over the post of party President to the Chief Minister... and Nitish Kumar has accepted it."

The leadership change within the JDU comes months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, fueling speculation about Nitish Kumar's prime ministerial aspirations. Nitish Kumar was reportedly overlooked as a potential candidate for the opposition bloc earlier, leading to internal discontent. 

Despite public denials of personal ambitions, critics point to Nitish Kumar's past decisions, including the abrupt ending of the BJP alliance in 2020 after the JDU's poor performance in the elections.