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Nitish Kumar denies plans to contest 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh
Speculations were rife that Kumar, who is trying to unite opposition parties ahead of the next general elections, may contest the polls from Uttar Pradesh’s Phulpur
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday put to rest the rumours surrounding his plans to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh, brushing them aside as “bekar baat”.
Speculations were rife that Kumar, who is trying to unite opposition parties ahead of the next general elections, may contest the polls from Uttar Pradesh’s Phulpur. Several Janata Dal (United) workers from the Allahabad town expressed wishes that Kumar contest from the constituency.
The Bihar chief minister, while speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a function on Tuesday, said, “I am surprised. There is nothing like this. Bekar baat hai. My only interest is to unite as many parties as possible before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. That will be a big achievement. I am only interested in working for that.”
Stating that he wants to promote the newer generation, pointing at Tejashwi Yadav by his side, Kumar said some party workers may have expressed their sentiments but he has not chosen his seat yet.
“There is no choice (of seat) for myself. All choices are for the country...that all get united. We need to fight unitedly to protect the country... The purpose of unity is to maintain social harmony, which is regularly being attacked [these days],” he said.
JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, a.k.a Lalan Singh, on Sunday had hinted that Kumar may contest the next parliamentary elections from Uttar Pradesh as he was offered to contest not only from Phulpur, but also Ambedkar Nagar and Mirzapur.
“There is nothing to accept or deny. Whether Nitish Kumar will contest Lok Sabha elections or not will be decided only at the right time, but he has been offered to fight from Ambedkar Nagar and Mirzapur also. It is the result of his mission to unite the opposition parties that party workers are demanding he should contest elections from Uttar Pradesh,” Singh said.
