Nitish Kumar elected JD(U) president unopposed

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was elected unopposed as JD(U) president on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, with no other candidate nominated for the party’s top post.

The Bihar CM was already serving as the party’s president since Lalan Singh resigned from the post ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in December 2023. Mr. Kumar (75) was elected to the Rajya Sabha in the recently held elections.

Returning officer Aneel Prasad Hegde, a former Rajya Sabha MP, announced Mr Kumar’s election as JD(U) chief and handed over the election certificate to the party’s working president Sanjay Kumar Jha and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh at the party’s head office here.

Other senior leaders of the party also attended the meeting.

“Since no other candidate has been nominated, I hereby declare Nitish Kumar as the national president of the party,” Hegde said and handed over Kumar’s election certificate to the party leaders.

However, Mr. Kumar was not there when his election as JD(U) president was announced.

When asked about his absence, Mr. Jha said that the Bihar Chief Minister was participating in the ongoing Samriddhi Yatra. “We came here to collect the election certificate from the returning officer on his behalf,” the JD(U) working president told reporters. he said.

Mr Kumar filed his candidacy on Thursday. Jha, who was one of those who suggested Mr Kumar, had filed his candidacy at the party’s head office here. The Bihar CM did not come to Delhi to file his nomination.

The deadline for applying for candidacy for the staff is March 22, and the date for examining the candidates’ documents is March 23.

According to the party, the party’s candidacy withdrawal period ended at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

Mr. Kumar became the party president following the resignation of Lalan Singh ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In December 2023. He took over the reins of the party with the approval of the council after Lalan Singh resigned midway through his three-year term.