News Analysis India

Tag: Umesh Kushwaha

  • JD(U) gets Rs 100 crore donation in 15 days

    Express News Service

    PATNA:  The ruling Janata Dal (United) in Bihar has received Rs 100 crore as donation over the last fortnight, announced JD(U) state chief Umesh Kushwaha on Tuesday. Kushwaha said the huge amount donated to the party fund by leaders, supporters and workers showed the popularity of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Overwhelmed with huge response, the JD(U) state chief exuded confidence that party would be able to get Rs 300 crore as donation by March end. “The process of collection of donation is transparent and it will come to public domain,” he said.

    The party will submit details of donations received from leaders, workers and supporters of the party to the Election Commission of India at the appropriate time, which will facilitate people to access the details, said the state chief. 

    ALSO READ: War of words intensifies between JDU and BJP in Bihar

    Kushwaha said the party had also appealed to people to donate to JD(U) benevolently during membership drive. The donation collection touching Rs 100 crore in 15 days, however, did not augur well for the main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party circles.

    RJD MLA Bhai Birendra described the huge amount collected as donation by JD(U) as ‘kala dhan’ (black money). “There is an attempt to convert black money into white money,” he alleged. 

    BJP state leaders, however, preferred to keep silent on the issue.

  • Fresh caste math with new JD(U) Bihar chief as Nitish springs another surprise

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday sprung a surprising organisational rejig, preferring Umesh Kushwaha (46) as the replacement for septuagenarian Vashistha Narayan Singh as the state unit president of JD(U).

    The proposal was unanimously approved by the party leaders, signaling JD(U)’s thrust on youth power to blunt the attack from Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) and Chirag Paswan (LJP). Earlier, party veteran Ram Sewak Singh’s name was doing the rounds as Vashistha’s successor.

    Kushwaha’s, a former MLA, elevation marks Nitish’s return to the Luv-Kush equation, which he devised in the 1990s to neutralise Lalu Yadav’s Muslim-Yadav (MY) formula. Nitish proposed Kushwaha’s name on the second day of JDU State

    Executive meeting on Sunday when Vashistha Narayan Singh stepped down over health reasons. Kushwaha is consider close to JD(U) national president RCP Singh, and said to have a stronghold in the Kushwaha community.

    Party MP from Munger Rajiv Ranjan Singh told media that the appointment of Kushwaha was approved by Nitish in a move to encourage youth leaders. Dismissing the opposition speculation, Singh said: “Those fanning rumours of NDA’s disintegration must know that JD(U) is strongly with the NDA.”

    JD(U) going strong in NDA: Senior leader 

    The speculations of JD(U) walking out of NDA were fanned by Nitish’s comments that he could not differentiate between friends and enemies during the recently-concluded Bihar election.

    “While our seats have come down, our vote share has increased,” Singh said, adding that the party is committed to working on Nitish Kumar’s Seven-Resolves (Part-II) on development with justice.

  • Young face Umesh Kushwaha is new Bihar JD(U) president

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Amid reports of the widening rift between BJP and JDU, Bihar chief minister in a surprise move decided to entrust the responsibility of state JDU with former MLA Umesh Kushwaha, a fresh face instead of giving the post to an experienced person. 

    Kushwaha was the JDU MLA from Mahnar assembly seat in 2015 who lost the election to an RJD candidate in 2020. 

    On day 2 of the JDU state executive meeting, outgoing party president Vashistha Narayan Singh stepped down from the post citing health grounds.

    Kushwaha is considered closest to the national president of JDU RCP Singh and is supposed to have a strong hold on the Kushwaha community.

    With the appointment of Kushwaha as state president, JDU again went back to his old-time equation of party christened as ‘Luv (Kurmi-CM belongs to this caste)-Kush (Kushwaha) equation after the poll debacle in 2020.

    Munger MP LS Rajiv Ranjan Singh told the media that appointment of Umesh Kushwaha was approved by Nitish Kumar in a move to encourage more and more youth leaders to the forefront of party. He said that Kushwaha’s name was proposed by Vashishth Narayan Singh.

    Rubbishing the speculation from the opposition side that JDU may exit from NDA, Singh categorically said, “Those, who fan a rumour that NDA may soon get disintegrated, must know that JDU is strongly in the NDA and their daydreaming will never come true.”

    Singh admitted candidly that the number of elected MLAs of the party in 2020 had reduced but the vote bank of the party has grown up.

    He said that the party has decided to work on CM Nitish Kumar’s 7-Resolves Part-II for development with justice.

    A senior party leader said that with the appointment of Umesh Kushwaha as Bihar JDU chief,  Nitish Kumar made it clear that he wants to move on his time-tested political equation called ‘Lav Kush’ after recent elevation of RCP Singh to the national president of JDU. In the 2020 assembly election, Umesh Kushwaha from JDU had a direct fight with RJD’s Bina Singh on Mahnar. However, he was defeated after LJP candidate Ravindra Singh jumped into the fray at the last minute.

    Kushwaha received around 53774 votes while RJD’s Bina Singh was polled 61721 and LJP’s Ravindra Kumar Singh was polled 31315 votes.

    Kushwaha, elated at his appointment, said that he will try his best to take the political ideologies of Nitish Kumar to the people working for development with justice for all. He said that JDU will work with BJP and all allies for the betterment of the state.

    Before the name of Kushwaha announced, the name of senior party leader Ram Sewak Singh was floating on priority in the race of the state president.

    Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition from RJD Tejashwi Yadav taunted that Nitish Kumar should have looked into the background of Kushwaha also before appointing him as party head in Bihar.