PATNA, March 9 -- Chief minister Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar formally joined the party at the Janata Dal (United) office in Patna on Sunday to start his political innings. His political baptism coincides with his father and Bihar icon Nitish Kumar making an exit from active state politics and bidding to join the Rajya Sabha, the only legislative House of which he has not been a member. CM Nitish Kumar stayed away from the function. JD(U) working president and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Jha inducted Nishant Kumar into the party. After taking the membership, Nishant Kumar also addressed the JD(U) workers and vowed to carry forward his father's legacy. "I will work for the party as an active member. My father has decided to go to the Rajya Sabha and I respect his decision. I will try to live up to the faith that the people and the party have shown in me. I will try to take forward what my father has done in 20 years. Everyone remembers what my father has done for the state," he added. He said that he would work to strengthen the party. "I request everyone to maintain faith in my father. I will work under his guidance. I will try to make a place in people's hearts. I respect my father's decision to move to the Rajya Sabha," he added. He was warmly welcomed by the workers when he reached the JD(U) office. During this, he touched the feet of senior leaders present on the stage, took blessings and greeted supporters by joining hands. JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha said that Nishant Kumar is the future of the party and the entire JD(U) would work with him. However, it remains to be seen what position he gets in the party and regarding future government formation. A senior party leader said that this was just his joining and his role would gradually be defined within the party. The CM was absent from the event, but several other Union and state ministers from the party and leaders were present on the occasion. Party leaders are enthusiastic about Nishant's entry, who had hitherto remained mostly away from public life. Later, Nishant accompanied Sanjay Jha to meet Nitish Kumar at 1, Aney Marg, the official residence of CM. After that he first went to Patna's famous Mahavir Mandir and then to the Mazar near the Court to offer prayers. "We will move ahead with people of all faiths, like my father does. I will strive to work on the footsteps of my father. I will meet the party's district presidents and will tour the entire state. We will focus on further strengthening the party," he told media persons. The enthusiasm in the JD(U) over Nishant's entry into JD(U) to start his political innings was clearly visible in the capital Patna ahead of the function, as hundreds of activists reached the JD(U) office in Patna since morning with camels, horses and bands to give the occasion a festive look. Large hoardings were put up at the party office, along the road and around important intersections. These posters read: "The beginning of a new chapter of developed Bihar --Nishant Kumar." They hint that a section of JD(U) leadership sees Nishant as a future leader and with him a desired transition warranted by Nitish siding away. While Nishant's test on the unpredictable political turf will begin now and the results will show only after some time, it has for the time being put to rest deepening questions about the party's leadership and concerns over its future after Nitish Kumar. "Nitish Kumar's political journey started with student politics. He determined the direction of Bihar's politics in the last two decades, and made his JD(U) an integral player and a pre-requisite for any government formation. That kind of deft manoeuvring will not be easy for Nishant, who has hitherto been reluctant to joining politics and remained uninitiated, but time, circumstances and opportunity are often the best teacher," said social analyst Nawal Kishor Choudhary. Former professor and chairman of the Patna centre of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Pushpendra, said that there was understandably apprehension within the JD(U) post-Nitish Kumar, as the party's future revolved around him without a defined second line and there is no first among the equals after him. "Under such circumstances, the party leaders and workers feel that the one person who can save the JD(U) and take the party forward is Nishant, who has the advantage of being the son of Nitish Kumar for whole-hog acceptance. In such parties, only a family member can act as a glue to keep the party united. But for Nishant, it will be a challenge to carry forward Nitish Kumar's legacy once the initial euphoria subsides and a new regime takes control," he added....