“I am thankful to our national president and Bihar CM (Nitish Kumar) for having given me a key responsibility.
I have to work to further expand the base of the party,” Jha told The Indian Express.
Jha is one of the key party leaders who had been instrumental in our switchover to the NDA,” said a JD(U) leader.
AdvertisementAs the Bihar water resources minister, Jha spearheaded several of Nitish’s flagship schemes and projects to help the state deal with its flooding woes.
Jha is also among those who played a key role in seeing through an AIIMS project for Darbhanga.
JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP and former Bihar cabinet minister Sanjay Kumar Jha, who was appointed as the party working president at its national executive meeting in Delhi Saturday, has become the first person to hold this position. Jha, a close aide of JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had been the party’s national general secretary since 2017 and was recently named the party leader in the Rajya Sabha, where he has been an MP since April this year.
“I am thankful to our national president and Bihar CM (Nitish Kumar) for having given me a key responsibility. As the party’s working president, my role is onerous. I have to work to further expand the base of the party,” Jha told The Indian Express.
Among the main reasons behind Jha’s elevation is his close relationship with Nitish. The 56-year-old Jha, who holds a master’s degree in medieval history from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, has long been the JD(U) supremo’s key lieutenant. He was said to have played a leading role in reuniting the JD(U) with the BJP and paving the way for Nitish’s return to the BJP-led NDA in January this year.
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“After the INDIA bloc’s Mumbai meeting did not consider making Nitish Kumar its national convener, there was little left in the INDIA bloc for Nitish Kumar to stay on. Jha is one of the key party leaders who had been instrumental in our switchover to the NDA,” said a JD(U) leader.
Earlier, there was a buzz that Jha was in the race for a ministerial berth in the Narendra Modi-led NDA government 3.0, which went to the JD(U)’s Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, the former party president whom Nitish replaced replaced in December last year.
Nitish had also been looking for a trusted leader who could share his responsibility in the organisation, given his twin roles as the Bihar CM and the JD(U) chief, especially as he looks to strengthen the party in the run-up to the 2025 Assembly elections.
Jha edited the ‘Competition Wizard’ magazine for students before entering active politics and becoming a member of the Bihar Legislative Council with the BJP ticket in 2006. Prior to that, he worked as an associate and later media adviser of former Union Minister of State Rajiv Pratap Rudy between 2001 and 2004.
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Jha, who was said to be close to senior BJP leader and former Union minister late Arun Jaitley, had been instrumental in ensuring a bonhomie between Nitish and Jaitley in subsequent years. He joined the JD(U) in 2012.
After Nitish walked out of the NDA in 2013 and the JD(U) contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections independently, Jha was believed to have played a crucial role in reopening a channel of communication with the BJP to facilitate the party’s return to the NDA fold in 2017.
In 2014, Jha had contested from the Darbhanga Lok Sabha seat and lost in a triangular contest involving the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), BJP and JD(U). After lying low in the wake of the JD(U)’s debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he was appointed to the Bihar State Planning Board in 2017 for a second stint after serving on the board in 2013.
But his resurgence began in 2019, when he was made a JD(U) MLC and a cabinet minister in the Bihar government. In 2021, months after Nitish returned to power following the 2020 Assembly polls, Jha was inducted as a cabinet minister again and given the water resources and information and public relations portfolios.
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As the Bihar water resources minister, Jha spearheaded several of Nitish’s flagship schemes and projects to help the state deal with its flooding woes.
During Jha’s tenure, the water resources department implemented the Ganga Water Lift Scheme, a major state project to transport Ganga water to the parched areas of Gaya, Nalanda and Nawada.
In 2022, Jha’s ministry built India’s longest rubber dam on the Falgu river in Gaya to bring round-the-year water availability near the historic Vishnupad Temple, which draws visitors from across the country for annual Pitri Paksh rituals during which offerings are made to ancestors.
Jha also helped launch the Mithila Haat, along the lines of Dilli Haat, in his paternal village of Araria Sangram in Madhubani to sell locally produced goods including the famed Mithila paintings from the region. Jha is also among those who played a key role in seeing through an AIIMS project for Darbhanga.
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As the JD(U) working president, Jha has his task cut out: to help his party remain a leading Bihar player besides being a major BJP ally, with his role becoming more crucial in the run-up to the Assembly polls slated for 2025.
