KC Tyagi to represent party in Sept 25 show at Jind
While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed his inability to attend the much-hyped Jind rally called by INLD stalwart Om Prakash Chautala for non-BJP and non-Congress parties, Nitish’s party JD(U) will be represented by senior leader and former Rajya Sabha member KC Tyagi.
JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan said the Chief Minister was busy so he would not be able to visit Jind on September 25, though the JD(U) would be sending national general secretary KC Tyagi as its representative.
The response comes days after INLD leader Abhay Chautala announced that Nitish, along with top Opposition leaders, would attend the mega rally in Haryana to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal.
JD(U) said the Bihar Chief Minister has the deepest personal regard for Devi Lal and he was willing to attend, but the State is facing several challenges on the ground like Covid, floods and local politics.
Lallan said under the prevailing circumstances, Nitish could ill-afford to go out of the State. He might, at most, make short trips to the national Capital if the situation warrants.
Abhay Chautala, along with his father and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, is organising the Kisan Panchayat where leaders like Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and Siromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal are expected to be present.
Chautala had initially claimed that Nitish had confirmed his presence for the meeting, which had led to a political storm in Bihar since the JD(U) is the biggest constituent of the NDA after the BJP. It is being speculated that the JD(U) strongman, whose party had been given short shrift by the BJP in the recent Union Cabinet expansion, might have decided to attend the Jind programme to express his disgruntlement.
The rally was being viewed as a precursor to the formation of a non-BJP, non-Congress Third Front. NCP leader Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NC leader Farooq Abdullah have also been invited to the rally.
Confirmation about the participation of all invitees is yet to come as all the announcements so far have been made by the INLD.