The Janata Dal (United)’s day-long orientation programme on Friday turned into a platform for its scion Nishant Kumar, as the Bihar health minister invoked his father Nitish Kumar’s legacy and urged party workers to carry it forward.

In his first-ever address to Janata Dal (United) workers, Bihar Health Minister Nishant Kumar, son of former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, praised Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary for “following the ideals and governance model” of his predecessor and party chief Nitish Kumar, and urged JD-U workers to do the same.

“You all should follow the ideals of our party’s supreme leader and former CM, Nitish Kumar. Speak to the people about what he has done for Bihar since 2005. Highlight his policies, programmes, and governance schemes,” Nishant urged party legislators, adding: “Current CM Samrat Choudhary is also following in the footsteps of Nitish Kumar ji… You should gather feedback from the public and flag any concerns of the people and party workers with party leadership.”

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This is Nishant Kumar’s first official address to party legislators. While the orientation programme — originally organised to train legislators in legislative practices and procedures — had several senior leaders in attendance, only one other leader besides Nishant, JD(U) National Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha, addressed the gathering.

Significantly, the function served to indicate one thing — how the party’s politics could shift towards him in the near future. While former chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the function, he left shortly after the ceremonial lamp lighting.

Senior leaders, including deputy chief ministers Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Kumar Choudhary, and JD(U) Legislature Party Leader and Minister Shravan Kumar, attended the event.

Union Minister and former JD(U) National President Rajiv Ranjan Singh (alias Lalan Singh) was conspicuously missing, with unofficial remarks from several legislators highlighting this absence.

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Speaking to reporters later, Sanjay Kumar Jha stated: “We discussed budget practices, the economy, major road network expansions, and how electricity access has improved over the last two decades. We also discussed what more needs to be done, along with best legislative practices from other states”.

He downplayed Lalan Singh’s absence, noting that the orientation programme was not intended for MPs.

The meeting made no official mention of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). However, some leaders said the party should maintain its longstanding stance on the issue. “Now that Article 370 and the Ram Temple issues have been resolved, our distinct stand on the UCC is what separates us from the BJP’s ideology,” one legislator noted. “Nitish Kumar always ensured social cohesion. Bihar should avoid anything that could disturb social harmony.”