Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar and the Opposition’s likely candidate for the post of Prime Minister is certain to get footprints over the southern States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu soon. The Janata Dal (U)’s top leadership is holding hectic discussions with former socialists, secularists and liberals heading fringe parties in these States for a possible merger so that Nitish Kumar would get a pan India presence, according to Saleem Madavoor, Kerala general secretary of Loktantrik Janata Dal.
The LJD in Kerala is headed by Shreyams Kumar , son of late M P Veerendra Kumar, a member of Rajya Sabha and owner of Mathrubhumi daily. Veerendra Kumar who had merged the JD(S) in the State with JD(U) was forced to quit his membership of Rajya Sabha following Nitish Kumar’s liaison with the BJP. After quitting his membership in Rajya Sabha, Veerendra Kumar had joined the LJD and the Left Democratic Front. K Krishnan Kutty, the LJD’s lone member in the Assembly is the minister for power in the CPI(M)-led Government.
“Our party is against communalists like the BJP, dynasty politics and any kind of compromise with the Sangh Parivar. Since Nitish Kumar ended his ties with the Hindu communalist elements and the Sangh Parivar, there is a consensus among the party members that we should accept the former as our national leader,” said Saleem Madavoor.
Though Veerendra Kumar and former Prime Minister H D Deva Gowda were in the JD(S), Gowda’s secret parleys with the BJP led the former to come out of the Gowda Dal and cast his lot with Sharad Yadav.
“Sharad Yadav is not a popular leader and people in Kerala do not have any idea about him. Hence we prefer Nitish Kumar who is the man of hour,” said a senior LJD leader in the State.
Tamil Nadu too would see a major shift towards Nitish Kumar in months to come. Since Chief Minister M K Stalin has made it known that he is not interested in the top job of the country, chances are that the DMK would opt for Nitish as Prime Minister. The JD(U) makes its appearance in the State only during the time of election but this time some of the letter-head parties would come together so that Nitish gets a launching pad from Tamil Nadu.
Moreover the stance of PMK, the political outfit of the Vanniyar community, which has a considerable vote share in the State is likely to dump the BJP and join Team Nitish Kumar. Dr Ramdoss, the party founder, is getting impatient as his dream of anointing his son Anbumani Ramadoss as chief minister is getting delayed. Even if Chief Minister Stalin may decide to call it a day, the first family of the DMK has made it clear that Uthayanidhi, son of Stalin, would be the heir.
