JD(U) will consider Nishad's case, hopes BJP

The BJP hoped that JD(U) would give due consideration to Capt Jai Narain Nishad, who had recently joined BJP.

The BJP on Monday hoped that JD(U) would give due consideration to Capt Jai Narain Nishad, who had recently joined BJP, since Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha has been given to NDA Convenor and JD(U) President George Fernandes.

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"We have no objection to Fernandes contesting from MuzaFfarpur since he had already expressed his desire to us when he met party President M Venkaiah Naidu. However, we hope that Nishad would be given due consideration," BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan told reporters here.

"We expect that they (JD-U) would respect Nishad's feeling," he said. Nishad had been elected from Muzaffarpur on a JD(U) ticket before he moved to Lok Janshakti and than to BJP.

The Bihar unit of BJP had sought more seats in the Lok Sabha which the party's central leadership was not willing to concede since the political situation in the state was different after the formation of Jharkhand, party sources said.

In pre-Jharkhand Bihar, the state had 54 Lok Sabha seats and after the formation of Jharkhand, the 14 seats that went to the newly-formed state were all BJP MPs, the sources said.

"The state unit was told that the political scenario in Bihar was not the same as before and, therefore, they cannot stake claim for more seats in the Lok Sabha," the sources said.