Ex-IAS officer Manish Verma is JDU national general secretary

Amid talks of next gen leaders within the JDU taking up leadership positions, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday appointed Manish Verma as party general secretary. Verma joined the party on Tuesday.

Verma is an Odisha cadre IAS officer who served in Bihar on deputation from 2012 to 2021. He served as DM of Purnia and Patna and, in 2016, became the principal secretary to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

In 2021, when his deputation was over, he took VRS to stay back in Bihar. Nitish Kumar made him his additional secretary in the Bihar Vikas Mission, which looks after the 'Saat Nischay' flagship programme of Nitish Kumar.


Verma is the talk of town in Bihar and many feel he could be the heir apparent of Nitish Kumar. There are reasons for this. Verma is very close to Nitish Kumar and comes from his district of Nalanda. He belongs to the same Kurmi caste as Nitish Kumar. A B.Tech degree holder from IIT Delhi in Civil Engineering, Verma worked closely with Nitish Kumar in the implementation of the 'Saat Nishchay' programme.