Several leaders of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Janata Dal (United) on Saturday met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and urged him to contest the coming Lok Sabha election from Phulpur or Varanasi. They requested Mr. Kumar to campaign for at least three months, saying he was a suitable candidate for the post of Prime Minister.
There are about 20% of Kurmi people in Phulpur, the caste that Mr. Kumar belongs to, the Uttar Pradesh unit of the JD(U) says. In Uttar Pradesh they go with the surname Patel. Two former Prime Ministers, Jawaharlal Nehru and V.P. Singh, were elected from this Lok Sabha seat. At present, the BJP’s Keshari Devi Patel has been elected to Parliament from here. Nine Kurmi MPs have so far represented this constituency. At present, Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal (Sonelal), who is with the BJP and the Union Minister, has the maximum support of this OBC segment in Phulpur. Along with the Kurmis, Muslims and Yadavs will also play a major role in the balance.
This is not the first time that this demand has been made. However, Mr. Kumar has never made any statement on this. On July 30 too, JD(U) workers in Jaunpur had demanded that Mr. Kumar contest elections from Uttar Pradesh. On Saturday, he accepted the request letter of JD(U) workers who reached Patna.
