JD(U) steps up pitch for Nitish as next PM; Lalan Singh leads campaign

Patna, Sep 17 (IANS) Amid the ongoing efforts to finalise the name of the convenor of the 'INDIA’ bloc, the Janata Dal (United) has stepped up its pitch for naming Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as the Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

JD(U) national president Lalan Singh and Bihar minister Ashok Chaudhary described Nitish Kumar as eligible to be the Prime Minister. Choudhary said that apart from Bihar, people of many other states want to see Nitish Kumar as PM.

He said that if a survey is conducted, then many people would like Nitish Kumar to become the Prime Minister.

However, Chaudhary said that further decisions will be taken as per the political scenario.

Earlier, RJD president Lalu Prasad had tried to portray Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the leader by calling him 'groom'.

Election strategist Prashant Kishore says that Nitish Kumar has a limited role in the INDIA bloc. He added that till now three meetings have been held. The first meeting was held in Patna, then it was believed that Nitish Kumar would be its convenor and he would be made the convenor, but it did not happen.

Even in Bengaluru, there was no discussion about making Nitish Kumar the coordinator. He said that in the third meeting, Nitish Kumar had taken up the agenda that INDIA should make caste census the main issue, but the alliance partners did not accept it as the main issue.

Political analysts opine that differences of opinion within the INDIA bloc cannot be denied right now. On the occasion of the G20 meeting, the chief ministers of many states of the parties that are part of the opposition alliance (INDIA), attended the dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu, but the Congress and the RJD were unhappy about this.

On the other hand, RJD leader and Bihar education minister Chandra Shekhar has given controversial statements about the Ramcharitmanas, which is not acceptable to the JD-U. The parties in the alliance in Bihar also have different claims regarding seat sharing.

In the last Lok Sabha elections, the RJD could not win even a single seat, whereas at present it is the largest party in the Assembly.

Ajay Kumar, an expert on Bihar politics, says that there are many complications in the INDIA bloc, and it is too early to say anything.

He said that till now there has been no discussion on seat-sharing. There is no doubt that everyone wants the BJP to be removed from power, but all the parties have their own compulsions of self-interest.

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