Lalan, Lalu and lull before the storm? JD(U) watches its president’s moves

However, many claim that the development is expected, citing several reasons, with Lalan’s growing proximity to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and son and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav coming right at the top.

This new-found closeness is intriguing as Lalan was among the five petitioners in the fodder scam cases against Lalu. The RJD supremo has been convicted in five of those cases so far, heralding the end of his reign as CM and leaving him disqualified from contesting elections in the near future.

Sources say that Lalan, who has been with Nitish for at least five decades and seen many comrades of the wily JD(U) supremo fall by the wayside, is just reacting to straws in the wind. Since the 2020 Assembly elections, Nitish’s JD(U) is the weakest among the big three in Bihar, including the BJP and RJD. Having broken away from the BJP and aligned with Lalu, Nitish had led his party to a mere 43-seat tally, almost half that of the RJD’s and BJP’s.

Lalan himself feels vulnerable, another JD(U) source said, due to “the growing interest” of senior party leader and Building Construction Minister Ashok Kumar Choudhary in Barbigha and Jamui politics. The two had a public tiff recently.

Choudhary, who belongs to Barbigha and has represented the Assembly segment, reportedly wants to cultivate it for his kin while fancying a Lok Sabha ticket from Jamui. He is seen as one of three leaders closest to the Bihar CM, besides miniters Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Sanjay Kumar Jha.

Lalan reportedly wants to concentrate on his own Munger Lok Sabha seat, free of party responsibilities.

Lalan is reportedly not very comfortable with JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha either, even as his bid to be a key stakeholder on important party decisions has been thwarted. A source close to Nitish says Lalan, for one, is opposed to any return to the NDA, which remains in the realm of possibility as per long-time JD(U) watchers.

“With INDIA bloc not quite warming up to Nitish or giving him any significant national role, the party is free to revisit going back to the NDA. But Lalan is averse to the idea and sees his political longevity in keeping the JD(U) relevant,” the source says, voicing the general fear that an alliance with the dominant BJP would mark the end of the road for the regional party.

JD(U) sources say Lalan’s “offer of resignation” – officially denied – follows his realisation that Nitish has cooled towards him. A party source adds that the JD(U) would use the National Council meeting to announce the new president as soon as Lalan steps down.

Ironically, another JD(U) source adds, Lalan is believed to have had a hand in another Nitish aide, R C P Singh, moving away and towards the BJP. Earlier, party stalwarts such as George Fernandes, Sharad Yadav, Digvijay Singh and Upendra Kushwaha left the JD(U) after falling out with Nitish.