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Janata Dal (United) move on Nitish Kumar sets off buzz about alliance with Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh
The Janata Dal (United) will organise a rally at Mirzapur or Jaunpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh in November/ December to show its strength. Senior Janata Dal (United) leaders, including Nitish Kumar, will address the rally.
The announcement by Janata Dal (United) leaders that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar may contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from a constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh has created a buzz about his party’s possible alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh Janata Dal (U) president Anoop Singh Patel said Nitish Kumar had met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in New Delhi (on September 6) to discuss an alliance of the opposition parties in a bid to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The SP chief gave a positive indication about a pre-poll alliance with JD (U) to challenge the BJP, he said.
Patel said he will meet Akhilesh Yadav on September 24 to discuss the alliance as well as the preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“We will also invite the opposition parties and alliance partner leaders to the rally,” he said.
The Uttar Pradesh JD (U) has sent a proposal to the national leadership to field Nitish Kumar from either Phulpur, Mirzapur or Ambedkar Nagar that have a strong presence of Other Backward Class (OBC) voters. The JD (U) has launched a membership drive across Uttar Pradesh and district unit presidents have been directed to constitute booth committees in each parliamentary seat in the respective districts, he said.
The JD (U) may field candidates on Lok Sabha seats in eastern UP, the focus is on seats that share the border with Bihar. The district units have been directed to conduct a survey in the seats and submit its report to the state unit. A decision on the seats will be taken after the alliance formula is worked out, he said.
Though the JD (U) presence in Uttar Pradesh is insignificant, party leaders here feel Nitish Kumar’s charisma as well as his influence on the OBC voters will pay dividends in the Lok Sabha election. Nitish Kumar belongs to the Kurmi community, whose vote is decisive in over two dozen Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Other OBC groups like Mauryas, Kushwahas, Shakyas and Sainis share a caste bond with Kurmis. In Bihar, these communities are considered the JD (U) support base.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP won 62 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election by mobilizing the votes of the non- Yadav backward communities. The SP has a hold over the Yadavs and Muslims. The Apna Dal (Sonelal) led by Union minister Anupriya Patel, who enjoys influence over the Kurmi community voters, won two seats as a partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. With the support of Nitish Kumar, the opposition can make inroads into the Kurmi and other non-Yadav backward caste voters, a JD (U) leader said.
Political observer SK Srivastava said, “Nitish enjoys support among women voters after imposing liquor prohibition in Bihar. He had addressed a rally in Lucknow in July 2016, demanding a ban on liquor. After breaking alliance with the BJP in Bihar, Nitish Kumar returned to mahagathbandhan that includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and the Left parties. To counter the BJP, the mahagathbandhan will work on the backward community alliance formula in U.P. that it used successfully to defeat the BJP in 2015 assembly elections in Bihar.”
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said SP chief Akhilesh Yadav will take a decision on the alliance with the JD (U) in Uttar Pradesh. He met the Bihar chief minister in New Delhi where a discussion on the opposition alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha election was held, he said.
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, the OBC face of the BJP, said Nitish Kumar stands no chance in Uttar Pradesh. After breaking alliance with the BJP, the JD (U) is struggling to maintain its hold over its support base in Bihar and the people of Uttar Pradesh will again support the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister for the third consecutive term, Maurya said.
