Patna : A redux of Odisha in Bihar when Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar’s advisor Manish Verma (Retd IAS: 2000: BH) formally joined the JD(U) on Tuesday.
Verma had taken voluntary retirement (VRS) in 2018, on the advice of Nitish Kumar and has since been working as a close aide of the CM. Speculation is rife that Verma’s entry into the JD (U) amid the possibility of him being groomed as the party’s future leader. Verma, who had been actively engaged with the JD (U)’s organisational activities for over one year, formally joined the party in the presence of JD (U) working president and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha and state water resources minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary.
He played a key role for the JD(U)’s campaign during the recent Lok Sabha polls, during which he extensively toured all the 16 parliamentary constituencies the party contested. The JD(U) won 12 of these seats, emerging as a major ally of the Narenra Modi-led NDA government 3.0.
