‘JDU wants to have a fair say in today’s politics at the national level’.
NEW DELHI: The lack of bargaining capacity has forced the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United (JDU) to work on an expansion plan for the party.
Sources have said that the JDU chief is miffed with the BJP for not giving “proportional representation” to the JDU in the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet, but the JDU has been keeping silent on this issue due to the lack of bargaining capacity.
In order to improve the situation, the JDU is eyeing the upcoming Assembly polls in Jharkhand and later in Delhi. The first phase of the Assembly polls in Jharkhand will start on 30 November.
The tension in the JDU-BJP relationship in Bihar surfaced this year when the JDU opposed the triple talaq and abrogation of Article 370 moves in the Parliament. Also, the JDU was at the center of criticism during the flood situation in Bihar. The BJP leaders even questioned Nitish Kumar’s governance in the state.
However, the JDU has been claiming that there is no tension with the BJP and the decision of contesting Assembly polls in Jharkhand alone is just part of the party’s expansion plan that should not be seen in any other light. However, sources in the JDU have confirmed that Nitish Kumar is unhappy with the BJP’s unwillingness to give “proportional representation”.
JDU is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar. The party had won 16 seats in the Lok Sabha polls held in May-June this year and due to the denial of “proportional representation”, the JDU had refused to join the Modi Cabinet in June.
A source close to the JDU’s national council told The Sunday Guardian: “JDU was never offered a fair share by the BJP government at the Center. If the due share had been offered, the party would have been part of the incumbent Central government. This issue was discussed in the party’s national council meeting and later a clear message was sent that if proportional representation is offered, the JDU can join the Cabinet.”
According to sources, in the national executive meet, JDU vice president Prashant Kishor stressed that if the JDU wants to have a fair say in today’s politics at the national level, the party will have to expand its base. Kishor sees a good chance for the party in Jharkhand and the Delhi Assembly polls. In Delhi, the party has already built a state-of-the-art office which will function as the war room during the Assembly polls.
The buzz that the JDU is going to contest alone in Jharkhand Assembly polls was confirmed within an hour after the Election Commission (EC) announced the schedule for the Jharkhand Assembly polls last week. Soon after the EC’s announcement, JDU’s Jharkhand unit president and former MP Salkhan Murmu informed the media that his party will contest on all the 81 Assembly seats of the state.
“A meeting in this regard was held on Thursday in Ranchi where senior leaders of the JDU were present. In the meeting, party leaders stressed that the recognition in two states is needed for the JDU to become a national party. Jharkhand and Delhi can help the party in achieving its aim of becoming a national party,” the same source cited above said.
Notably, this is not the first time that the JDU has floated an expansion plan. In the past too, the same attempt had been made by the JDU, but none of its attempts achieved any success except in Manipur where the party secured recognition. In the past, the JDU has failed to make any inroads in seven states where it contested Assembly polls outside Bihar. These failures have left the JDU with no bargaining capacity and just left the party to “survive” on the mercy of its key ally, the BJP. The states where the JDU has so far contested polls and failed to make any gains include Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal.