Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was elected the national president of the Janata Dal (United) at a party meeting in Delhi on Friday.

Kumar’s election as the party chief came after MP Lalan Singh, considered a close aide of the chief minister, stepped down from the post.

The election is expected to be ratified at the party’s national council meeting later on Friday.

Kumar had previously served as the Janata Dal (United)’s national president between 2016 and 2020. Former Union minister RCP Singh had become the chief in 2020 when Kumar stepped down from the post. Lalan Singh had taken over when RCP Singh left the party in 2022.

On Thursday, Lalan Singh had rejected speculation of a rift within Bihar’s ruling party. “Nitish Kumar is the leader of our party,” he told reporters. “JD(U) is united and it will remain the same. I am not going to resign. You [media] are most welcome to further the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] agenda.”

Kumar takes over as the party chief at a time when seat-sharing negotiations within the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance are gathering steam ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Janata Dal (United) is currently leading a coalition government in Bihar that also includes Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.

With 40, Bihar has the fourth-highest number of Lok Sabha seats in the country.

On the development, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bihar chief Samrat Choudhary told ANI on Friday that the Janata Dal (United) is Kumar’s “private limited party”.

Asked about the speculation that Kumar’s party may return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Choudhary said, “There is no such thing, no discussion is going on on it.”

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