After the Opposition BJP and even ruling party alliance leaders criticised the JD(U) for backing out of the Uttar Pradesh poll fray, it was the turn of a senior party leader to slam the leadership for the same reason.
“If the party did not intend to contest, why did party president Nitish Kumar address eight meetings there? The decision has come as a major roadblock in the party’s campaign to become a national alternative in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll,” JD(U) State vice-president Satish Kumar said here on Sunday.
Mr. Kumar had been camping in U.P. for over six months to explore electoral possibilities for the party there and organising rallies for Mr. Nitish Kumar.
He said the JD(U) had identified as many as 50 candidates it planned to field, mostly in the Kurmi-Kushwaha-dominated constituencies of Poorvanchal (eastern part) in the State.
The JD(U) leader, who was earlier credited with organising the biggest Kurmi rally in Bihar so far, also charged that two of the party’s senior leaders, Rajya Sabha member R.C.P. Singh and principal general secretary K.C. Tyagi, were covertly working for other parties.
However, Congress legislator Ashok Ram said: “The JD(U) should have displayed more political maturity and like the RJD, supported the SP-Congress alliance in U.P.”
Poor show in 2012
“In 2012, the JD(U) contested in 219 seats and in most of them forfeited its security deposit…where is JD(U)’s base in U.P.,” asked another Congress leader.
However, JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told The Hindu : “Our party decided not to contest the U.P. poll to stop division of secular votes there.”
