Sanjay Kumar Jha, the newly appointed working president of Janata Dal-United (JDU), affirmed that the Bihar assembly polls in 2025 would be fought under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
In an interview with ANI, Jha said, “Nitishji is completely healthy. He managed the whole Lok Sabha election campaigns. There is no problem. We will contest the Bihar assembly polls under his leadership.”‘
The JDU leader further said that whenever it feels that the downfall of CM Nitish Kumar has begun, he will surprise you with his excellent comeback.
“Whenever it feels that the downfall of CM Nitish Kumar has begun, he will surprise you with his excellent comeback. The Lok Sabha polls were a message that people still have faith in Nitish Kumarji”, he said.
Nitish Kumar, who switched back to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in January this year, has emerged as a ‘kingmaker’ having gained 12 seats in the Bihar Lok Sabha polls.
Several other BJP leaders, meanwhile, have indicated that the state assembly polls in Bihar would be fought under Kumar’s leadership and that he would not be ‘sidelined’ by the alliance.
Speaking about the special status for Bihar, Sanjay Kumar Jha attacked the opposition saying that the latter never worked towards it while in power from 2004 to 2014.
“The opposition, when in power under the Manmohan Singh government for 10 years, never raised the issue of special status to Bihar. As far as we are concerned, this is our demand. From the beginning, CM Nitish Kumar held such a big rally for this. If Bihar gets a little support in the future, then Bihar will also stand in the position of a developed state. We are demanding that special state status be given or if there is any issue, give us a special package. The purpose is that Bihar has to get help, politics should not be done on this”, he said.
Bihar leaders including CM Kumar himself have long advocated special status and special packages for Bihar from the central government, citing the state’s economic and social backwardness.
Earlier this month, the National Executive meeting of the JD(U) passed a resolution backing special status for Bihar.
Meanwhile, JDU working president Jha also reacted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Yarav’s remarks that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre, which came to power last month, could fall by August and elections can happen anytime.
“Laluji says a lot of things. Even before the Lok Sabha polls, he claimed that the Modi government would not retain power but it did, and that too, with a huge majority. They dipped to four Lok Sabha seats. The people have Bihar have given a befitting reply to them”, Sanjay Jha said.
He further assured that the NDA government will run for the next five years under the leadership of PM Modi.
“The NDA government will run for the next five years under the leadership of PM Modi. After Nehruji (former PM Jawahar Lal Nehru), Modiji formed a government for the third consecutive time. It is not an ordinary thing”, he said.
The JDU leader also took a jibe at former Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav over the issue of caste census, claiming that the public does not trust him.
“The public’s trust is not on Tejashwi Yadav’s side, rather it is on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s side. No matter how much he goes to public meetings in a wheelchair, the public has told him whom they prefer to trust”, he said.
Sanjay Jha further said that the issue of caste census arose with CM Nitish Kumar speaking about it.
“When did the issue of caste census arise? It is when Nitish Kumarji started speaking about it and working towards it. The BJP also supports it”, he said.
The opposition leaders of the INDIA bloc have been demanding a nationwide caste census, claiming that it would be conducive to ‘economic justice’. (ANI)