Patna agog over Nitish pick in JD(U)

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi, July 20

Days after former bureaucrat Manish Verma officially joined Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal(United) as general secretary, he is making waves as a potential successor to the party supremo and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Though Nitish is very much in command, Verma’s recent induction into the JD(U) fuelled speculation over his growing prominence in the party.

JD(U) leaders describe the former 2000-batch Odisha cadre IAS officer as closest to Nitish, whose association with other former bureaucrats NK Singh and RCP Singh, ended bitterly. Both switched over to the BJP. However, Verma stayed.

JD(U) leaders recall how Verma did not think twice before heeding Nitish’s advice to quit the IAS when his deputation ended in 2021.

“Verma came to Bihar from Odisha on deputation in 2012 and took VRS on Nitish’s advice in 2021,” a JD(U) insider said, adding the talk of Nitish’s succession gained ground when the CM, on the 2020 state poll eve, said this was his last election. Verma has since been active in JD(U) affairs. “In 2014, when Verma was Patna DM, there was a stampede at Gandhi Maidan there. The Ravan Vadh ceremony was underway when the chaos struck, killing 33 persons. The ground had a single exit. When the tragedy unfolded, Verma was busy celebrating his son’s birthday at Hotel Maurya, right next to the stampede location. Despite widespread criticism of the state administration’s apathy, Nitish did not act against Verma…We knew that day that this bureaucrat had the CM’s ears and patronage,” a JD(U) leader recalls.

Another leader speaks of how Nitish created the post of additional adviser for him after he quit IAS in 2021. “This post was created in a Cabinet meeting in 2022. Without holding any post in the party, Verma was made a member of several government bodies,” a JD(U) source said, highlighting Verma’s journey — from Patna-Purnea DM, CM Nitish’s principal secretary to now JD(U) general secretary. “The post on July 9 came on Nitish’s insistence,” says a party leader terming Verma, 50, as a man to watch out for.

In between, CM’s 49-year-old son Nishant Kumar was briefly speculated to take a political plunge, but that turned out just a ripple in the water whereas Verma, a Kurmi from Nalanda, much like his mentor, consistently remained in the public eye.

Caste census shouldn’t be made public: Chirag

Union Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan has pitched for a nationwide caste census but warned against making the figures public as it would lead to “division” in society. He noted that now people in Bihar are being associated with the percentage of their castes in the total population after the state government disclosed the figures of its caste survey. pti