Jagdanand stays state RJD chief

PATNA: After weeks of uncertainty, there are now indications that Bihar unit president of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Jagdanand Singh, is set to continue at the party post, having been apparently “mollified” by ailing party chief Lalu Prasad, who was due to leave for Singapore Friday evening for kidney transplant.

When contacted on phone on Friday, Singh, who has apparently been sulking after the controversial exit of his son Sudhakar Singh from the Nitish Kumar cabinet in October, said he would be returning to Patna on Saturday and hinted at resuming work soon.

“I am still unwell and undergoing treatment. Yes, I will be in Patna tomorrow. There will be work, of course,” he said.

Speculation had been rife of late that Jagdanand, a confidant of Lalu Yadav since the 80s, might step down from the party post.

Asked when he would visit the state party office again, he remained evasive. “Let us not go to details,” he said.

Sudhakar, who was sworn in as agriculture minister in August, resigned last month ostensibly under pressure from the RJD leadership following his repeated allegations of corruption in his department.

On Thursday, Jagdanand had called on the RJD chief at his eldest daughter Misa Bharti’s residence in Delhi presence of top leaders, including Abdul Bari Siddiqui, party sources said.

A prominent Rajput face of the party, Jagdanand had skipped RJD’s national executive and council meeting on October 9-10 in New Delhi. Since then, he has not been coming to party office in Patna.

“Lalu Yadav had made up his mind not to let go of Jagdanand Singh. This week, the party sent the list of office bearers to the Election Commission, wherein Singh has been named as a state president,” said a senior RJD leader close to the party chief.

Party state spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan dismissed reports of Jagdanand having been upset. “He has always been guiding the party and had skipped office because of his health problems. He has nurtured the party and remains one of the trusted associates of the RJD chief,” he said.

Meanwhile, RJD finalised its national executive committee of 80-plus members on Thursday in which former chief minister Rabri Devi, former minister Shivanand Tiwary, senior leaders Devendra Yadav and Uday Narayan Choudhary have been appointed as national vice-presidents, party sources said. The list has not been issued publicly.

The national executive was formed after Lalu Prasad was re-elected as RJD’s national president for the 12th time in October following organisational polls.