Nitish Kumar's JD(U) gearing up to expand base outside Bihar

Buoyed by the allotment of 'arrow' symbol, the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United (JD-U) is now working on strengthening its organisation base outside Bihar.

As a result, the party is set to hold a convention of party workers in Delhi on December 10, which will be addressed by party’s national president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Earlier, when former JD(U) President Sharad Yadav had expressed displeasure with Nitish for dumping the Mahagathbandhan and joining hands with the BJP, Nitish had maintained that JD-U was a regional party and hence, the decision taken by its Bihar unit members was to be adhered to.

A senior party leader said the JD-U has already chosen its new state presidents for Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. “Now to increase our base in Delhi, we will hold a meeting at Talkatora stadium on December 10,” he added.

With a good number of people from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh in Delhi, the Nitish enjoys considerable support there. Senior party leaders including KC Tyagi, Ram Chandra Prasad Singh and Sanjay Jha will also be present at the Delhi meet.

The party, which has also decided to contest the Gujarat polls from 12 assembly seats, is likely to declare its candidates within a day or two, the leader said and added, “Even if we lose, we will have some base there.”

The JD-U Bihar executive committee will also hold a meeting in Patna on November 26 to discuss these issues.