After polls, parties will sit and decide the PM candidate, Nitish not in race: JD-U president

Lalan Singh said that just like the June 23 meeting in Patna, another similar meeting would be held here after the 2024 election results to decide who should be given the responsibility to lead India.

PATNA: Stressing that chief minister Nitish Kumar is not a prime ministerial candidate, Janata Dal-United national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh on Sunday said that once the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are over all political parties will sit together to decide who should lead the country to strengthen democratic values and institutions.

JD-U national president Lalan Singh addresses a gathering at party office in Patna on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

He said this while speaking at the induction of former superintendent of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) Dr. Bimal Karak and hundreds of his supporters in the JD-U at the party office.

“Nitish Kumar is not a candidate for the PM post. His sole objective is to save the country by freeing it from the clutches of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and for that he strives to unite all the political parties. On June 23, 18 political parties will be in Patna as part of the Opposition unity move. From Kashmir, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti have also agreed to be part of the meeting,” said the JD-U president.

Lalan Singh said that just like the June 23 meeting in Patna, another similar meeting would be held here after the 2024 election results to decide who should be given the responsibility to lead India to reestablish the democratic values the country has been known for. “Nitish Kumar’s resolve is just to make it happen,” he added.

Hitting out at the BJP, Singh said that the present dispensation at the Centre had nothing to show even after being into the 10th year of its government, and was hence trying to fan communal frenzy. “But Karnataka has proved that people have understood their gameplay and they would not allow themselves to be misled by rhetoric. What happened in Karnataka will be repeated in Madhya Pradesh. The way constitutional bodies are being subjugated and democratic values eroded, the situation in the country today is worse than the emergency days,” he said.

The JD-U president said that all the workers of the party would need to strengthen the hands of Nitish Kumar in his endeavour to save the country from the unannounced emergency of the BJP. “I urge all the party workers not to shout slogans projecting Nitish Kumar as PM, as he is out for a much larger cause. The country is in danger, its history is being changed. If they remain in power, they will write an entirely new history,” he added.

Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha while lashing out at the Bihar CM said that nobody had any trust in Nitish Kumar due to his “politics of convenience and U-turn” and the opposition unity move would be a non-starter after some photo-ops. “A leader who has lost credibility cannot convince others with an assurance of trust. Nitish Kumar is still playing his politics to survive as long as he could in the chair. That has been his only goal and he cannot grow beyond that. Negative politics cannot bring positive results,” he said.