NDA never had internal issues, oppn trying to plant false stories: JDU’s Sanjay Jha
Janata Dal United (JD-U)’s working president Sanjay Jha said that there was never any confusion in the NDA and there would be none in future too
Janata Dal United (JD-U)’s working president Sanjay Jha on Friday criticised the opposition for trying to plant stories while reiterating the fact that Union home minister Amit Shah has stated Nitish Kumar is the face of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar.
The development comes a day after Shah met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and state’s in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan.
“The two leaders also held a meeting to discuss the election campaign for the Bihar assembly election. Both leaders will be campaigning from Friday. NDA has never had any internal issues, and the opposition is trying to plant false stories, but we are united. Once the campaign picks up the pace, we will all be seen together. The Union home minister has made it clear many times that Nitish Kumar is the face of the NDA, and we will contest this election under his leadership,” said JD-U working president Sanjay Jha.
Jha said that there was never any confusion in the NDA and there would be none in future too.
“Many stories were floating around about seats, but everything was smooth and done before time, while in the opposition camp everything was in disarray. Symbols are being snatched, tickets are stuck and so they want to distract the people to hide their own problems, which will only grow with time due to signs of NDA sweep,” he added.
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Shah’s meeting with Kumar assumes significance as on Thursday during a TV show, in response to a question if Nitish Kumar would be made the CM, Shah said that a decision on the chief minister would be taken after the assembly elections in the meeting of the elected legislators. “Who am I to make anyone CM?” he asked.
However, Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is an NDA ally, said if Shah has said something, that would be treated as an official statement.
“But I personally feel that the CM’s face should be clear before election and there should be no room for ambiguity,” he added.
Manjhi, who was earlier upset with the seat sharing deal in which Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP-R) got 29 seats while he received only six, said that in the Opposition even seats could not be finalised so far due to lack of policy and ideology.
“In NDA, fortunately everything is fine so far. The CM had expressed his resentment when one party fielded a candidate on JD-U’s seat, but now everything is fine. But I personally feel it should be clear before the election who will be the next CM,” he said.
JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said that Shah had clearly stated that the NDA would go into the 2025 Bihar election under Nitish Kumar’s leadership and there was no ambiguity about it.
“He just narrated the procedure of how a CM is elected after election results are announced. It is a natural process. Nitish Kumar is the the top most leader of the country and heads an important constituent of the alliance. All the leaders of our party and more importantly want to see Nitish Kumar as the next CM in 2025 and there is no room for any ambiguity on it,” he added.
The JD-U spokesman said that in the NDA, there is cohesion and agreement, not friction or cracks.
“The problem is on the other side. RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s entire family is in disarray and tangled, with one carrying grandmother’s photo and another taking mother and father to nomination. The fact is that Bihar is assured of Nitish Kumar’s another term due to people’s support,” he added.
Shah had clearly stated that “Nitish Kumar is a product of JP movement and prominent socialist leader, whose politics has always been anti-Congress, and we are fighting the elections under his leadership and he is also leading our election campaign”
“When we won more seats (in 2020), Nitish Kumar told us that the BJP should lead the government. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him that he should lead the government, and eventually he became the chief minister,” Shah said, adding when in states or Centre when the BJP received a full majority, it ran the government in coalition.
“We have always respected our alliance partners. All the NDA partners are in close coordination with each other and because of this, discussions among the parties never get derailed anywhere and that was the reason why NDA came to complete seat sharing early while others struggled,” he added.
A senior JD-U leader said that Nitish Kumar was the first to start poll campaigning with all the NDA allies and he was focussed to ensure a strong show this time, with a string of non-stop election meetings all through.
“The opposition has no issues and is engrossed in its own problems that gets reflected through the unending drama of seat sharing. It cannot match Nitish Kumar’s stature and acceptability among the people due to sheer work that he has done for every section of the society. NDA’s cohesion is apparent. All this has unnerved the Opposition so much that they are looking to find shelter under non-existent issues,” said Bihar minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary.
