Ram Jatan Sinha was felicitated at the party office by Nitish Kumar.

Former Bihar Congress president Ram Jatan Sinha on Tuesday joined the ruling Janata Dal (United) and lavished praise on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the party.

After joining the JD(U) at an auditorium in presence of top leaders like national vice president Prashant Kishor and state unit chief Vashishth Narayan Singh, Mr Sinha was felicitated at the party office by Mr Kumar.

Mr Sinha is not an ordinary leader and his joining our party will have immense consequences, Mr Kumar told reporters on the occasion.

Today, we see doors of political parties are closed on talented young people, which is regrettable. Our party, however, is different as it is not controlled by a family.

And, therefore, there is hardly any social segment which is not duly represented in the JD(U), the Chief Minister said.

Earlier, at the party function in Bapu Sabhagar auditorium, Mr Sinha had said Nitish Kumar is a leader who thinks of Bihars development all the time. And the state has prospered under his leadership since he has eradicated social strife along the lines of caste and religion.

A known baiter of Lalu Prasad, Mr Sinha also took potshots at the RJD supremos heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, whom he did not mention by name but remarked people without any formal education worth the name have the temerity to raise questions on the state of universities in Bihar.

Mr Sinha had severed his ties with the Congress ahead of the 2015 assembly polls which he unsuccessfully contested as an Independent candidate.

A three-time MLA from Makhdumpur assembly segment in Jehanabad district, now a reserved constituency, Mr Sinha had served as the BPCC president in 2003.

Speculations are rife that he may be fielded by the JD(U) from Jehanabad Lok Sabha segment, which has a sizeable population of Bhumihar community to which Mr Sinha belongs.

Mr Sinha is the second former state unit chief of the Congress to have joined the JD(U) in a year. In February last year, three Congress MLCs including former BPCC president Ashok Choudhary had crossed over to Nitish Kumars party.

Besides, another former state Congress president Mehboob Ali Kaiser is with Ram Vilas Paswans Lok Janshakti Party, a partner in the states ruling alliance.

However, Tariq Anwar who had served as a BPCC president in the 1980s but went on to co-found the NCP along with Sharad Pawar returned to the party last year.