Nitish, Lalu to campaign against Mamata in WB

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former chief minister Lalu Prasad will campaign in West Bengal in the upcoming Assembly polls. They will back both the Left and Congress candidates.

Apart from campaigning, they will also put up their candidates. The JD(U) is likely to contest 6 seats and the RJD one or two, said party sources.

“The campaign schedule is being prepared. Both the leaders along with party chief Sharad Yadav, general secretaries K C Tyagi and Arun Kumar Shrivastav will campaign in the state,” said JD(U) national secretary Affaq Khan.

According to leaders, the JD(U) leadership has finally abandoned its reluctance to go against Mamata Banerjee who has been in cordial relations with the Bihar chief minister for many years. The leadership ultimately decided to join the Left and the Congress to strengthen secular forces at the national level.

“The Congress has been very keen on roping in our party. They wanted Nitish Kumar to campaign for them,” a senior leader told Deccan Herald. The Left parties, too, were positive to the idea,” he clarified.

“The Left Front has agreed to give us 6 plus seats. This would be in addition to what they have given to the Congress,” he said.  In West Bengal, there is a good number of Bihari voters in many parts of the state, including Kolkata.