Ailing former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will hold its national council meeting to elect a new national president on October 11, according to the schedule of organizational polls announced by the party on Wednesday.
The election process for state-level functionaries will start from August 16 and election for the presidents of Bihar unit and other states would be held on September 21, says the schedule announced by party’s national assistant chief election officer, Chittaranjan Gagan.
Prasad, who is currently recovering from various ailments in New Delhi, has been holding the post of national president since the party’s inception in 1997. In 2019, Prasad was re-elected unopposed for the 11th time for a period of three years.
Last month, Prasad had suffered a fracture on his right shoulder and injury in other parts of the body after a fall at his residence in Patna after which he was hospitalised. He was taken to AIIMS, New Delhi, on July 7 and discharged on July 22.
The upcoming organisational polls of the main opposition party in Bihar is significant as speculation is rife that Prasad might step down as president to make way for his younger son and leader of the opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who is considered the heir apparent.
Indications of a transition of power were clear at a key RJD meeting a few months back when party legislators passed a resolution empowering Tejashwi Yadav to take policy decisions.
The organisational polls will also be keenly watched for the new president of RJD unit in Bihar, where the party has it main presence.
Incumbent state unit president Jagdanand Singh, considered close to the RJD supremo, has often come under attack from Lalu Prasad’s mercurial elder son and MLA Tej Pratap Yadav.
Referring to organizational polls schedule, Gagan said names of all members, including of newly enrolled members, would be published on August 13, following which the election for delegates at the booth level and panchayat level would be held. He said the election for members of the state council will be held from September 6 to 12.
The national council meeting will be held in New Delhi this time, party officials said.
