A former minister in Bihar, Jha was originally in the BJP and served as its link with Kumar before crossing over to the JD(U). (File Image)
PATNA: JDU on Wednesday released a fresh list of its national office-bearers, with Sanjay Kumar Jha, a Rajya Sabha member and aide of JDU president Nitish Kumar, retaining the post of national working president.What surprised everyone was that JDU president Nitish Kumar’s son, Nishant Kumar, was missing from the list of office-bearers. He had joined JDU only last month and had been expected to get a key place in the organisation.This new list compiled by Nitish Kumar has 24 members and was made after the party boss entered the Rajya Sabha, leaving state-level politics.Yet another notable point is that the list contains five Muslim members — Afaque Ahmad Khan, Kankashan Perveen, Ghulam Rasool Baliyawi, Mohammad Nissar and Ruhi Tamoom, indicating Nitish’s outreach to the politically significant minority in the state.Former MP Chandeshwar Prasad Chandravanshi is the only national vice-president in the list, while another parliamentarian, Alok Kumar Suman, is treasurer. There are altogether 12 general secretaries in the list, including former IAS officer and Nitish aide Manish Kumar Verma.Meanwhile, Rajeev Ranjan Prasad has been appointed as JDU’s spokesperson-cum-secretary.
