Smarting under the success of Maha Gathbandhan in Bihar Assembly polls, the JD(U) is chalking out plan for the party’s expansion in other States as well as to stitch alliance with different parties particularly in the poll-bound States.
The neighbouring Uttar Pradesh being first on its target, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday addressed a well attended meeting at Zamania, in Gazipur district of UP, bordering Bihar, which was organised by Ashok Samrat Club. JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi said that about one lakh people mostly belonging to Koeri, Kushwaha, Maurya, Shakya and Saini backward castes attended the public meeting.
The JD(U) is already in talks with small parties like Rashtriya lok Dal of Ajit Singh, to which the JD(U) has extended support in the Assembly bypoll, Apna Dal of Krishna Patel and Peace Party of Dr Ayub. The party is also trying for a bigger alliance by seeking support of Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress. The party is not in a mood to have any truck with ruling Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav which ditched the Maha Gathbandhan in Bihar election.
JD(U) president Sharad Yadav on Monday announced in lucknow on Monday that in the by-election to three Assembly seats in UP, the JD(U) will back RlD candidates. He said his party was open for the formation of a grand alliance in UP on the lines of Bihar.
Bihar JD(U) president Bashistha Narain Singh on Tuesday said that post Bihar results, there was a big scope for the expansion of the JD(U) as well as formation of alliances in different States. He said Nitish is receiving invitations from UP, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and Kerala. “We are hopeful of the reorganisation of the Janata Parivar in other States too which may become a strong alternative of the BJP-led NDA,” Singh claimed at the party office here after welcoming former MlA Maheshwar Singh, who was in lJP and later on BJP, and his large number of supporters who came from his constituency Harsidhi in East Champaran.
However, State JD(U) president said t he alliance in other States may not be necessarily on the likes of Bihar where JD(U) formed alliance with RJD and Congress. “Our effort is to create a Manch (front) under Nitish Kumar and comprising of erstwhile Janata Parivar constituents to emerge as a political force,” he added.
Incidentally, RJD supremo lalu Prasad too is keen to expand his base in UP, where Assembly election is due tin 2017, by stitching an alliance with small regional and local parties. lalu has already announced to start his campaign from Varanasi, the lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But still there is no sign that the two Bihar allies, JD(U) and RJD, are going to join hands in UP. One reason for this disagreement could be that lalu is interested to include SP in his plans while Nitish is totally against joining hands with Mulayam, who during and after Bihar Assembly election was openly critical of him. The JD(U) also suspects that Mulayam has tacit understanding with the BJP.