Even though Janata Dal (United) has got a raw deal in Wednesday’s Union cabinet expansion getting just one berth despite having 16 Lok Sabha MPs, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may still have succeeded in preparing his successors in the party. RCP Singh, JD (U) national president and Rajya Sabha MP, has taken charge as steel minister.
Now that the bureaucrat-turned-politician has become a Union minister, RCP, as he is addressed in political circles, will always be the frontrunner for replacing Nitish along with former Union minister and JD (U) parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha. In all probabilities, this might well be the last term of Nitish as chief minister given age will not be on his side by the next assembly polls.