Who is Manish Kumar Verma, former IAS officer and close aide of Nitish Kumar who joined JD(U)?

Amid JD(U) holding pride of place in the ruling NDA block, the Nitish Kumar-led party has seen some rejigs as the party appointed Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha as its working president late last month.

It also urged the Centre to consider either special category status or special package for Bihar, seemingly flexing its muscles to underline the Nitish-led party's role in helping the Narendra Modi government at the helm.

In all of this, former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Manish Kumar Verma, a close aide of Nitish Kumar, on Tuesday also joined the JD(U).

"Our party is seriously thinking in terms of expanding its base beyond Bihar. We are sure that Verma's rich administrative experience will be of great use to the JD(U)," said Jha as he welcomed Verma in the fold.

Who is Manish Kumar Verma?

Verma is a 2000-batch IAS officer who took voluntary retirement three years ago. He is an IIT Delhi alumnus and was assigned the Odisha cadre upon joining the IAS, and served for 12 years, after which he sought a deputation in his home state of Bihar.

He then went on to serve as the DM of Patna and headed the state's power companies. In 2021, his deputation period ended.

Verma was a major player for the JD(U) during the Lok Sabha elections and he toured all the constituencies where the party contested from.

The Nitish connection

Verma took VRS from the IAS in his 40s and has since been an informal supporter of the JD(U). He also belongs to the same 'Kurmi' (OBC) community as Nitish Kumar. Verma has been based out of Biharsharif in Nalanda district, same as the Bihar CM for several years, The Indian Express reported.

After his deputation in Bihar ended, rather than going back to his cadre, he took VRS and was made Additional Adviser to the Chief Minister and was also part of the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority.

Despite nothing official yet from Nitish Kumar or any first-rung leaders of the party, speculations are rife of Verma being seen as a possible successor of Nitish. The Bihar CM has a son too, Nishant, who has rarely been seen in public life and while there have been media reports speculating him joining the party in his father's footsteps, there have been nothing concrete on those lines, which seem to have fueled rumours of Verma being the chosen one.

(With inputs from PTI)