Nitish Kumar’s shock poser: What will become of JD(U) if I die?

PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar surprised everyone at the JD(U) state executive committee meeting here this weekend when he said, "What will happen to the party if I die tomorrow?"

When asked why he used a word like "death", Nitish, who is also the JD(U) national president, said, "Kaun janta hai kal kya hoga (Who knows what will happen tomorrow)?" He, however, added, "Arre aise hi munh se nikal gaya tha, kuchh khaas nahin (It was just an utterance, there is nothing serious about it)."

Senior JD(U) members said it was the first time Nitish had spoken in this vein, and twice at that.

"As long as I am alive, the decision to enforce prohibition in Bihar cannot be annulled. If anyone has a problem with my decision, he should kill me. I am not going to roll it back," Nitish said at the meeting on Sunday.

JD(U) national general secretary Sanjay Jha told TOI, "I've been associated with Nitish for a long time and attended many of his closeddoor and public meetings. I can't recall him ever talking about his death." "By talking like this, Nitish wanted to remind leaders about the hard work he has put in for the party.

He wanted party workers to not forget the basic ideology of JD(U) and remain committed to the cause of the poor," Jha said. JD(U) state chief B N Singh said no one needed to worry about Nitish's successor for at least 10 years.