New Delhi: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday chaired a JD(U) meeting to discuss the poll strategy and preparation for the upcoming Assembly polls in Jharkhand. After the meeting, the party said that it wants to contest the neighbouring state’s elections in alliance with the BJP.The meeting was held at Mr Kumar’s official residence in Patna. JD(U)’s working president and in charge of Jharkhand Sanjay Kumar Jha, Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary, along with Rajya Sabha MP and head of the JD(U)’s Jharkhand unit Khiru Mahto, attended the meeting. Other senior JD(U) leaders also participated in the meeting.After the meeting, Mr Mahto told the media, “We are looking forward to contesting the Jharkhand Assembly polls in alliance with the BJP.””Among the issues discussed with the party’s supreme leader was the inclusion of Kurmis in the list of Scheduled Tribes. Kurmi leaders in Jharkhand have been raising the demand for some time and today, it was seconded by delegates from West Bengal. We will now move forward by raising the issue in Parliament and before President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah,” he added.Assembly polls in Jharkhand are due at the end of this year.The state is currently ruled by the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance, which ousted the NDA from power in the 2019 Assembly elections.Senior JD(U) leader and minister in the Bihar Cabinet Shravan Kumar said, “The party intends to contest the Jharkhand Assembly polls as part of the NDA. Details like the seat-sharing formula will be decided at a later stage.””The meeting was called in view of requests from Kurmi and Kushwaha leaders of Jharkhand who had been seeking an audience with Mr Kumar,” he said.He also made light of the Opposition parties in Bihar questioning the CM’s absence at the Niti Aayog meeting in Delhi.”The Opposition keeps raising questions. But things are moving in the right direction and will continue to do so with good speed,” the minister said. During its national executive meeting held in New Delhi on June 29, the party had decided to contest the Jharkhand Assembly poll as an NDA partner to regain its lost ground in the tribal state after 2005. A proposal to this effect has already been passed at the party national working committee meeting.The JD(U), which has no legislator in the Jharkhand Assembly, contested 40 seats in the 2019 Assembly election but did not win even one when it decided to go solo, while it contested 45 seats in 2014 but won none.
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