Lalan had termed Nitish Kumar a ‘dictator’ before resigning from his post as JDU state president in February 2010.
Lalan Singh alias Rajiv Ranjan, who had termed Nitish Kumar a “dictator” before resigning from his post as JDU state party president in February 2010 and leaving the party, was on Friday evening appointed as the National President of JDU by the same man whom he had called a “dictator” almost 11 years ago.
The 67-year-old Singh, due to his proximity to Kumar, was always leading the race to become the National Party president to replace R.C.P. Singh, who had to resign from his post after joining the Narendra Modi cabinet recently. The other leaders who were in the race included Upendra Kushwaha and KC Tyagi.
Lalan Singh had played the role of the “commander” who carried out the orders of Nitish Kumar to split the LJP and leave Chirag Paswan totally alone. Lalan Singh, who was seen as among the first choice for the cabinet post from the JDU quota, had to take a back seat as the BJP offered only one place to the JDU in the cabinet, which was given to RCP by Nitish Kumar. Following this, Lalan Singh had threatened to break the party.
After that it was a foregone conclusion, as per Patna based political observers, that Nitish Kumar will have to make Lalan Singh as the National President to stop him from repeating what he did in 2010. Nitish Kumar has a very limited circle of people around him, and Lalan is among them.
Singh, who is Member of Parliament from Munger, had left the party in February 2010 after developing differences with Nitish Kumar and joined the Congress just months before the October 2010 assembly elections.
He resigned as the state president accusing the Chief Minister of being dictatorial and said that Nitish Kumar was thriving by creating social tension and running an inefficient and corrupt government. Sharad Yadav was the JDU national president at that time. In 2017, Yadav was removed as the national party president by the trio of Nitish Kumar, RCP and Lalan Singh. A prominent Bhumihar leader of the party, Lalan Singh rejoined the JDU in 2013 and within months was able to secure his place in the inner circle of Nitish Kumar. Bhumihar constitutes about 5 % of the total population of Bihar but is seen as among the most assertive voices of the state. With the installation of an upper caste Bhumihar as the national president, the first for the JDU, Nitish Kumar has tried to give a message that he is not just a leader of the OBCs and the SCs.
Lalan Singh, alongwith BJP leader Sushil Modi, Saryu Rai and Shivanand Tiwary, was one of the original petitioners in the fodder scam against Lalu Prasad Yadav.