Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off a roadshow and a rally here on Saturday in what is intended to be the beginning of a move by the Janata Dal (United) towards national expansion. The party plans to field candidates from at least 100 of the 272 wards that will be going to the polls on April 23.
Bihari pride invoked
At the rally on the bank of the Yamuna, Mr. Kumar invoked “Bihari pride”, advocated prohibition and voiced support for full-fledged Statehood for Delhi. The CM talked about “real social change” triggered in Bihar due to a ban on alcohol and the “Bihar model of governance”.
Mr. Kumar said that some parts of Delhi “lacked basic facilities” and were “worse” than the villages in his home State.
The roadshow was organised near the Burari Transport Authority where an auto rickshaw blared the JD(U)’s campaign slogans: “The national leader with a national vision from Bihar”.
Mr. Kumar’s plans for his party’s national prospects were voiced by local supporters as they shouted slogans such as “ desh ka PM kaisa ho? Nitish Kumar jaisa ho ” and “ sab ko dekha baar baar, Nitish ko dekho ek baar ”.
Many senior faces, both from the party’s Delhi unit as well as the Bihar government, were in attendance.
“Lack of basic facilities is evident when one enters the interiors of Delhi, whether it be the condition of roads, drinking water, drainage or sewage. Bihar was infamous for problems such as these, but now, even some villages in Bihar will leave Delhi behind when compared in such terms. What has happened to Delhi? It needs to be made a full State to realise all its actual needs of development,” Mr. Kumar said.
‘Forego profits’
He also challenged “other State governments” to forego profits from excise duty through the sale of alcohol and “give social change a chance”, in a veiled reference to Delhi's ruling AAP government.
“The Bihari and Purvanchali population in Delhi has grown tremendously over the last two decades. It is time to reclaim our right to govern it. We have forged our own identity here and it is time to honour it in the Capital’s governance,” the Bihar CM said.
JD(U) MP Ali Anwar said the event was a hallowed beginning for the party’s plans for national expansion. “Development has been completely stalled in Delhi due to the tug-of-war between the Centre and the Delhi government. It is time to start afresh for the sake of Delhi”.
JD(U)’s Delhi in-charge and general secretary Sanjay Jha said the party was relaunched in Delhi in December last year and in just three months had seen a spike in support.
“Delhi is not just Connaught Place. It also has colonies, which lack basic infrastructure like water and electricity. We are contesting polls in at least 100 wards and are confident we will win across east and south Delhi. The MCDs have been under the BJP and nothing has been done. The AAP, which rode to power in a wave, too hasn't been able to do anything.”
