JD(U) Dismisses Proposal to Rename Nitish Kumar's Birthplace as Nitishpur

JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha on Thursday declined to endorse a proposal from an NDA ally to rename Bakhtiyarpur, the birthplace of former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, after the leader. Responding to questions, Jha said Kumar, a Rajya Sabha member, has never believed in rechristening places.

The suggestion was floated by Santosh Kumar Suman, national president of the Hindustani Awam Morcha and a minister, who posted on X on Wednesday that Bakhtiyarpur should be renamed "Nitishpur". Suman argued that Kumar's life journey, struggles and memories are tied to the town on the outskirts of Patna, and that honouring his birthplace would be an act of respect for the soil, its history and public sentiment.

Jha thanked Suman for the sentiment but stressed that Kumar has always let his work speak for itself. He also invoked history, noting that merely changing a place's name would not erase the fact that invader Bakhtiyar Khilji had set Nalanda, the ancient seat of learning, on fire. Jha said it was Kumar's efforts that led to a modern international university being established in Nalanda, recalling that late CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury had pointed out in Parliament the coincidence of a son of Bakhtiyarpur reviving Nalanda's glory eight centuries after its destruction.

Kumar, 75, is the JD(U)'s national president and Bihar's longest-serving chief minister. He stepped down from the post in April and was later elected to the Rajya Sabha.

The opposition RJD ridiculed the proposal. Party MLA Bhai Virendra told reporters that it was preposterous to suggest renaming Bakhtiyarpur after Kumar, adding that the next suggestion from BJP allies might be to name the country after Narendra Modi. The RJD is headed by Kumar's arch rival Lalu Prasad, while Suman's father, Jitan Ram Manjhi, is a minister in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.