Janata Dal United, which is leading the government in Bihar, is now looking for political ground in Jharkhand also. The party is eyeing the Kurmi-Koeri voters in Jharkhand. JDU is considered to have a hold on this vote bank in Bihar. His effort is to focus on those areas in Jharkhand where there is a significant population of these two castes. With the intention of expanding political ground, party supremo Nitish Kumar will hold a big rally in Ramgarh on January 21.
Regarding its preparations, JDU's Jharkhand state in-charge and Bihar's building construction minister Ashok Chaudhary reached Ranchi on Saturday.
His visit is aimed at strengthening the organisational strength of the Janata Dal (United) in Jharkhand.
Kumar will address ‘Nitish Johar’ rally in Ramgarh district, where party leaders and workers from across the state will gather, Bihar minister and the party’s Jharkhand in-charge Ashok Choudhary told reporters here.
“His (Nitish Kumar) programme will start from Ramgarh. We will make efforts to organise more such events in every division of the state. From the first week of January, senior leaders of the party would camp here to make the programme a success,” he said.
The party will “strongly participate” in the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Jharkhand, he said.
“After Nitish Kumar’s programme in Ramgarh, we will be working on strengthening the party’s base across the state,” he added.
Ashok Chaudhary held a meeting with the party's state president and Rajya Sabha MP Khiru Mahato and other officials in Ranchi and discussed the preparations for the public meeting.
Later in a press conference in Ranchi on Saturday, Chaudhary said that there is every possibility of growth of the party in Jharkhand. The party has made some mistakes in the last years, which have caused losses. Trying to increase the strength of the party. We still have time. Chaudhary said that this is our own rally, it is the party's rally. If any other political party wants to come, it can come. This is not the program of the alliance but of our party. We always feel that our position in Jharkhand has been good and we can get it back again.
Even in the distribution of seats under the India alliance, JDU is in a mood to stake claim on one to two Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand. The number of Kurmi-Koeri voters in Jharkhand is about 23 percent.
The party believes that if they are mobilized, an effective angle of politics can be created in Jharkhand. With this intention, two years ago, Nitish Kumar had sent Jharkhand's prominent Kurmi leader Khiru Mahato to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar and after that he made him the state president and entrusted him with the responsibility of expanding the organization in the state.
