Bihar polls: Nitish Kumar to be Janata Parivar's CM candidate, says Mulayam Singh
New Delhi: Nitish Kumar will be the chief ministerial candidate of the JD(U)-RJD combine in Bihar, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav announced on Monday, resolving a major irritant in the alliance between the two parties to take on the BJP in coming Assembly elections in the state.
“I am very happy about the unity of Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar. Kumar will be the chief ministerial candidate for Bihar. Laluji has proposed Nitish Kumar’s name for the chief ministership. Laluji said he will campaign. There are no differences and we will not allow any differences to crop up,” Yadav said while declaring that they would fight together to root out “communal forces”.
A day after the two parties agreed to fight the Assembly polls in an alliance, Yadav disclosed at a press conference in the capital which was also attended by RJD president Lalu Prasad and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, that Prasad proposed Kumar’s name for the top job in the state.
Breaking his silence on the issue, Prasad said he cannot contest election himself and there was no other CM contender from his family or party. There are no differences between us (between him and Kumar),” he said, downplaying earlier remarks of some RJD leaders expressing discomfiture over projecting Nitish Kumar as CM candidate. The coming together of the once-bitter rivals is seen as a compulsion for the Janata Parivar, which lost badly in last year’s Lok Sabha elections in which BJP won out of 40 seats in Bihar.
Read: Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad to contest Bihar polls together
Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday confirmed that Congress would be a part of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-Janata Dal (United) alliance for the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls.
"The Congress is definitely involved in the talks over the Bihar polls," Kumar told a press conference here. "We discussed various matters with Rahul Gandhi but nothing that would interest you," he added.
Talking about seat-sharing for the Bihar polls, Kumar said that "three members each from the RJD and JD (U) will meet tomorrow and have a discussion on seat-distribution". The Bihar Chief Minister had yesterday met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at the latter's residence in the national capital.
Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav had on Sunday confirmed that the Janata Parivar would fight the Bihar Assembly polls, due later this year, in an alliance.
"The meeting has come to a conclusion that three members each from RJD and JD (U) will be part of the committee. They will decide the seat distribution. I will not disclose the names of the members. It has been decided that the election will be fought by the alliance," said Yadav.
Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had met Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav yesterday to discuss the alliance ahead of assembly elections.
Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav was also present in the meeting, which took place at Mulayam's residence here. Lalu Prasad is also likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi today to discuss the alliance issue.
On April 15, six political parties-including the Janata Dal (United), Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD) and the Samajwadi Party-had announced a merger to revive the united Janata Party. Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav was named the president of the merged entity.
