Kamal Ghorui
PATNA: Nishant Kumar is set to join Janata Dal United in a grand political debut on March 8, the party announced on Friday even as his father Nitish Kumar made it clear that his decision to move to Rajya Sabha and step down as Bihar chief minister was his own and irreversible.At a key JDU meet at Nitish’s official residence, a resolution was moved by national working president Sanjay Jha for felicitating the entry of Nishant, who was earlier reluctant to the idea of joining politics but relented after discussions with his father, party supporters and other family members. “Resolution was unanimously endorsed by all MLCs and MLAs, and Sanjay Jha later announced the historic decision,” JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said.There is intense speculation that the low-profile Nishant – an alumnus of Jharkhand engineering institute BIT Mesra – could be appointed deputy CM in a new NDA govt or be given a key organisational role to prevent a leadership vacuum if Nitish shifts to Delhi. The move is significant as Nitish long took a strong stand against dynastic politics but is now seeing his only son set to enter public life at age 50. “The chief minister gave the green signal for Nishant’s entry,” JDU senior Vijay Choudhary said. Nishant will hit the ground running after his entry, touring Bihar to interact with party functionaries and workers, spokesperson Neeraj said.Later, JDU president Nitish told party legislators he would spend more time in Bihar despite the Rajya Sabha move. Rubbishing the fact that he was nudged or pressured to step down, he stressed that will continue to monitor “everything” in the interest of the state’s development. Nitish requested party legislators to let him go to Parliament. “When I was working with former PM A B Vajpayee at the Centre, Vajpayee Ji used to advise me to remain in Delhi. But I told him my first priority was Bihar and returned. Now I have decided to go to RS. I will arrange a house in Patna and spend more time in Bihar. You will not face any difficulty. All work started by our govt will continue uninterrupted,” Nitish said, reassuring his party.
