PATNA, Aug. 29 -- The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will start district-wise meetings from August 31 and continue the exercise until September 25 to constitute the district and block-level committees afresh in the next several weeks, said party insiders. They added that the party may staff key positions with leaders from the Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) as these groups wield enormous influence on the state's electoral calculus. The RJD disbanded all its state, district and block-level committees on August 6, just days after the result of the Bankipur bypoll in which the state's principal opposition party suffered a crushing defeat in a multi-cornered contest. The decision to disband the state, district and block-level committees was apparently taken to quell internal dissent and infighting that set in soon after the bypoll result. However, some top party leaders reject the idea of internal squabbling and maintain that the reshuffle was long overdue and was set to happen anytime after January. Party leaders said the district-wise meetings would gather feedback from all workers and leaders to decide the suitability of candidates for organisational posts. "There will be regular district-wise meetings from August 31 onwards, continuing until September 25. We will take feedback from the workers and district leaders before reconstituting the district and block committees across the state," said Bhola Yadav, party national general secretary and a close aide of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Sources said that the party having suffered a setback in the 2025 assembly polls by winning only 25 seats and also losing the Bankipur bypoll is keen on inducting new faces especially young leaders by giving higher representation to leaders from Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and OBC groups. "Our vote base has not shown any substantial decline, as the party's vote share continued to hover around 22% in the 2025 assembly polls, which is similar to the vote share we got in previous polls. But we are now keen on strengthening our booth network management and our base among EBC groups, which remains one of the ruling NDA's traditional vote banks," said another RJD leader. He added that the party would continue to work on its "Muslim-Yadav" combination but would also shift focus to winning over weaker sections and EBCs to expand the party's support base. With Jan Suraaj turning into an alternative political power centre and some social groups like Muslims and EBCs seemingly moving toward it, speculations have arisen that the RJD might lose its voters to the new entrant in Bihar politics. But, RJD leaders dismiss such possibility and any possible split in the party's "M-Y" grouping. "Voting patterns and issues differ in bypolls and general polls. The RJD continues to have a large vote share in Bihar and we are working to further consolidate it," said a party leader. RJD insiders, meanwhile, made it clear that the party's state president and incumbent Mangani Lal Mandal will continue to hold the post. "There is no proposal to change the state president. He will constitute the new committees after deliberations and meetings with district and block-level leaders in the coming weeks," said a source....