On the eve of the first coordination committee meeting of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) Opposition bloc, the Janata Dal (United) leaders from Bihar projected Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the Prime Ministerial candidate for 2024.
It happened during a meeting convened by Mr. Kumar at his official residence where 534 block presidents of the party were in attendance. Before the meeting at the CM’s residence began, the block presidents raised the slogans of ‘Desh ka Pradhanmantri kaisa ho, Nitish Kumar jaisa ho’ (What sort of Prime Minister must the country see, of the sort that Nitish Kumar be) and chanted it several times.
After the meeting, the block presidents said Mr. Kumar has asked to strengthen the party at block level to win all 40 Lok Sabha seats apart from spreading the development work done by the government.
Niranjan Kushwaha, block president of Arwal said, “The kind development Nitish Kumar ji has done in Bihar, no Chief Minister has done. Now, we want to see him on the throne of Delhi as the Prime Minister.”
On Sunday, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh had shared a video on his social media account claiming that Mr. Kumar is ready to lead the country. However, Mr. Kumar himself has always denied and categorically said that he has no personal wish or desire to hold any post nor he is in the race for 2024.
In the video, Mr. Singh had said that the people of Harnaut have provided a leader who has diligently served Bihar and now stands fit to serve this country, referring to Mr. Kumar, who had won his first term in the Legislative Assembly from Harnaut.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Modi said that Narendra Modi is the supreme leader for the post of Prime Minister and no other leader is in the race. He also asked Mr. Singh why he is showing off Mr. Kumar’s biodata to everyone when Mr. Kumar himself denies being in the race.
Meanwhile, election strategist Prashant Kishor on Tuesday predicted that JD(U) will not be able to win even five seats in 2024 Lok Sabha election while adding that Mr. Kumar’s role will gradually diminish in the INDIA alliance.
“If Nitish Kumar remains in INDIA, he will have a limited role. As the elections come closer, keep in mind that Nitish Kumar’s involvement would be minimal and by the time election will end, his role will be finished. You must have heard one of my predictions in Bengal where I had said that BJP is not going to get even 100 seats. Let me make another prediction that in the next Lok Sabha elections, even five people contesting from JD(U) will not win the election because Nitish Kumar has lost his credibility among the people,” Mr. Kishor said in Muzaffarpur.
He added that people in villages are mocking Nitish Kumar due to his habit of changing the political alliances repeatedly.
“The people of Bihar have understood that the priority for Nitish Kumar, once known as Sushasan Babu [Mr. Good Governance], is merely to remain the Chief Minister,” Mr. Kishor had quipped.
