After comprehensively winning the battle for Bihar, Nitish Kumar is now gearing up for a direct showdown with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bihar Chief Minister is likely to choose UP as his political turf to challenge Modi. Nitish Kumar is also likely contest the 2019 parliament election from UP.
Both Nitish Kumar and his party, the Janata Dal (United), have stepped up their activity in UP. A senior JD (U) leader said that Nitish Kumar forays in UP are for testing the political waters in the UP, better known as `quick sand of politics’’. The JD(U) forays in UP assumes significance in view of the 2017 UP assembly elections and its plans to make UP its political turf for the next parliament elections in 2019.
Buoyed by the successful rally at Varanasi on May 12 to launch his party’s election agenda for UP assembly polls, Janata Dal (U) president and Bihar Chief minister Nitish Kumar will launch his popular total prohibition campaign in lucknow on Sunday. On May 12 Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav attended a rally in Pindra in Varanasi to launch election campaign in UP and issuing a call for Bihar like secular grand alliance.
Kumar would attend a conference of the women wing of the Kisan Manch in the state capital at Ravindralaya on Sunday afternoon. However during his day long visit to lucknow Nitish Kumar would try to send a message to the dalits when he will visit the Ambedkar Mahasabha to pay tribute to the urn of Dr B R Ambedkar kept there.
Ambedkar Mahasabha has turned into an important political land mark of dalit politics in lucknow. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with several other BJP leaders had visited the Ambedkar Mahasabha during his visit to lucknow in March.
JD (U), state president Suresh Niranjan said here on Saturday that Nitish Kumar will reach lucknow on Sunday at 11 am .The Bihar CM will first go to Ambedkar Mahasabha and then will attend the conference of the Kisan Manch at Ravindralaya. He said Nitish Kumar will formally launch the total prohibition campaign in UP at the conference.
Nitish Kumar will be accompanied by JD (U) leaders and Rajya Sabha members K C Tyagi and RCP Singh. Nitish Kumar will return back to Patna in the evening.
The programme of Nitish’s UP tour was finalised during the party’s national council meet held in Patna in April. Nitish had held a separate meeting with party’s UP leaders to discuss the state’s “political scenario” and his proposed visit to lucknow on May 15.
JD (U) state president Suresh Niranjan said ``On May 15, Nitish Kumar will address a conference in lucknow where he will push his prohibition policy, which is hugely successful in Bihar and has been welcomed by all sections of the society. At the event, which is being organised by a women organisation, Nitish will highlight the ban on liquor as an achievement.
On the proposed merger of the RlD with the JD (U), suresh Niranjan said ``merger with Rashtriya lok Dal (RlD) was yet to be given a final shape and the exercise for merger of parties was “still in process.
Earlier in January, Sharad Yadav had laid the foundation of a “grand alliance in UP” by supporting RlD in by polls but the attempt received a setback when JD (U)-supported candidates of RlD lost to the Samajwadi Party (in Bikapur) and to the BJP (in Muzaffarnagar).
later in February, Nitish addressed a gathering of backward castes and Dalits in Ghazipur district where he had sought to connect himself with UP by saying that eastern UP and Bihar have “similar demography, thoughts and behaviour”. He had avoided any political attack on Narendra Modi and SP government of UP.
Nitish had earlier planned to hold his first public meeting with Akhil Bharatiya Patel Navnirman Sena (ABPNS) leader Hardik Patel in Varanasi after resounding success in Bihar elections. But the programme was cancelled when Patel’s bail plea was rejected by a court in Surat. JD(U) leaders, however, had later attended a conference organised by ABPNS in Varanasi. At that programme, ABPNS had announced support to JD(U) in the UP polls scheduled for next year.