With an eye on the Kurmi vote bank in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will address a big rally of Janata Dal (United) in Mirzapur on June 18.
While the focus of the rally will be demand for total ban on liquor in the state, the ulterior motive is to garner support of the Kurmis in the region.
Mirzapur, bordering Bihar is an important district in Kurmi politics in UP. In fact, a BJP ally and head of Kurmi-dominated Apna Dal, Anupriya Patel is a sitting MP from Mirzapur.
This will be the third visit of Nitish Kumar to UP, after taking over as the national chief of JD (U) in April. Earlier this month, Nitish had addressed a big rally in Varanasi to garner support for his key plank `prohibition’ which he followed up by his address ata conference in lucknow.
Varanasi, also the PM's constituency, is important for the Kurmi vote bank due to a sizeable number of voters from the community.
Meanwhile state JD (U) chief Suresh Niranjan said, "The JD (U) will intensify its campaign for total ban on liquor in UP and other states and rally is a part of the strategy in this direction. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will be accompanied by senior leaders like Sharad Yadav, KC Tyagi and others.’’
Niranjan said that a meeting of state leaders was held in lucknow on Sunday to thrash out a strategy for the campaign and mobilising support from social, cultural and women's groups.
"The Mirzapur rally is not for drawing political mileage but for serving people's cause by demanding a total ban on liquor,’’ said the JD (U) leader.