JD(U) Orientation to Balance Nitish Legacy, Nishant's Rise and UCC Caution

The Janata Dal (United) will hold a day-long orientation programme for its legislators on Friday, an exercise that party leaders say is meant to sharpen legislative skills even as it carries a wider political message.

Senior figures are expected to address the gathering, including party chief Nitish Kumar, national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, Ministers Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Kumar Choudhary, legislature party leader Shravan Kumar, and Health Minister Nishant Kumar.

The timing is significant. The programme comes two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Uniform Civil Code would be brought in across all BJP- and NDA-governed states before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

For the JD(U), the announcement revives a delicate question. The party has never rejected the UCC outright. When the Law Commission sought views in 2017, it said it was not opposed in principle but wanted wide consultation and consensus first, a position it repeated in 2023-24.

In recent weeks, that stance has hardened in tone. Several leaders have argued that while the party may not block a national UCC, Bihar should not be singled out for implementation.

Reactions since Shah's remarks have been measured. Sanjay Jha said JD(U) leaders would meet the Home Minister to discuss the matter, while Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the party would study the actual legislation and saw no reason for haste.

Not all voices have stayed on script. Nalanda MP Kaushlendra Kumar said on Thursday that the UCC would not be implemented in Bihar, a remark seen as reflecting unease within sections of the party.

A senior leader acknowledged the difficulty, noting that while the party is not restating its earlier submission to the Law Commission, a section is unhappy with its ambivalence, and that the MP's comment cannot be dismissed outright.

Another leader said it was unclear whether the orientation would directly take up contentious subjects, adding that such events send signals to the grassroots. The same leader said the party had unanimously decided to rally around Nishant Kumar and to build momentum around Nitish Kumar's record in governance and social engineering.

Party national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad did not confirm whether the UCC would figure in the discussions, saying PRS Legislative Research is conducting the programme to educate lawmakers on legislative processes and help them raise constituency issues more effectively.

Bihar's political arithmetic adds weight to the party's caution. Muslims account for 17.7% of the state's population, about 2.31 crore of 13.07 crore residents, according to the state caste survey, and CSDS-Lokniti data indicate that 12% of Muslim voters backed the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.