Nitish to join hands with former BSP leader

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar would share stage with former BSP leader R K Chaudhary at a rally here next week.

This move signals that he is willing to ally with smaller, caste based outfits in the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, due early next year, to defeat the BJP.

According to the sources close to Chaudhary, Nitish Kumar has accepted the invitation to attend the public meeting, which was being billed as a ‘show of strength’ by the one time confidante of BSP supremo Mayawati.

Chaudhary, who hailed from ‘Pasi’ caste, which was part of the SC, was believed to wield considerable influence over the community, which constituted around 4% of the total electorate in the state.

“We are in talks with JD(U)...if everything goes well, both the parties may be part of a bigger alliance comprising smaller, caste based outfits,” said an aide of Chaudhary while speaking to DH here.

Chaudhary has decided to revive BS4 (Bahujan Swabhiman Sangharsh Samiti), an organization founded by the BSP founder Kanshiram. It was later scrapped.

Nitish Kumar has been making efforts to expand his party’s base in UP with the help of some smaller outfits.

Nitish has signaled that he will focus mainly on the seats in the eastern region of the state, where ‘Kurmis’ (the caste to which Nitish belongs) have a sizable strength.
 
Nitish, who addressed two meetings within a span of one week at two different places in UP, has declared that he will make prohibition his party’s major plank in the forthcoming assembly polls in the state which were due early next year.

Both Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BJP have been on the offensive against Nitish. While the SP has maintained that he will have no impact in UP,

the BJP has termed him “votekatwa” (someone, who contests only to make a dent into the votes of others and not to win).