New Delhi, March 24 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was unopposed elected as the president of JD (U) on Tuesday, with no other candidate filing nomination for the party's top post.
Kumar, 75, had been serving as the party's president since Lalan Singh resigned from the post ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in December 2023. Kumar was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Returning officer Aneel Prasad Hegde, a former Rajya Sabha MP, announced Kumar's election as the JD (U) chief and handed over the certificate of his election to the party's working president, Sanjay Kumar Jha, and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, alias Lalan Singh, at the party's central office here.
Several other senior leaders of the party were present at the event.
"I declare Nitish Kumar as the party's national president since no other nomination has been filed," Hegde announced and handed over Kumar's election certificate to the party leaders.
Kumar was not present when his election as the JD (U) president was announced.
Asked about his absence, Jha said the Bihar chief minister is participating in the ongoing Samriddhi Yatra. "We have come here to receive his election certificate from the returning officer on his behalf," the JD (U) working president told reporters.
Kumar filed his nomination on Thursday. Jha, who was one of the proposers for Kumar, had submitted his nomination at the party's central office here. The Bihar CM did not come to Delhi to file his nomination.
The last date for filing of nomination for the post was March 22, while the date for the scrutiny of documents of the candidates was March 23.
According to the party, the deadline for the withdrawal of nomination for the party expired at 11 am on Tuesday.
Kumar became the party chief after Lalan Singh's resignation ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in December 2023. He took over the reins of the party with its council's ratification, as Lalan Singh had stepped down in the middle of his three-year term.