Patna: As Bihar gears up for the 2025 Assembly elections, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is preparing for a significant internal shift. Party supremo Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav have approved the appointment of Mangani Lal Mandal as the new RJD state president, replacing the long-serving Jagdanand Singh.
Mangani Lal Mandal is scheduled to file his nomination on Saturday, with elections set for June 19. The result, expected the same day, will formalise the transition. The development comes amid ongoing organisational elections within the party, which have been greenlit by RJD’s national election officer Dr. Ramchandra Purbe. State-level election officials, including those in Bihar, have already published State Council lists across party offices.
On Saturday, nominations will be filed for the posts of state president and National Council members in Bihar and other states. The decisive State Council meeting in Patna’s Gyan Bhawan will be chaired by state election officer Tanveer Hasan, where voting and the declaration of results are expected to take place concurrently.
Jagdanand Singh, a veteran leader from the Rajput community and one of RJD’s few prominent upper-caste faces, has been largely inactive in recent months. His absence from party events, including the national executive meeting, and his prolonged disengagement from party headquarters had fuelled speculation about his removal.
Mangani Lal Mandal, his likely successor, hails from the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) and carries considerable administrative and political experience. A former Bihar cabinet minister, Mandal has served in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Though he briefly joined Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), he rejoined the RJD earlier this year.
