Patna: After nearly 23 years, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar will campaign together for the Assembly by-polls in Bihar from Monday. Both of them will hold five public meetings at Hajipur, Mohiuddinagar, Narkatiyaganj, Chapra and Mohania as part of campaign for the bye-elections in 10 seats scheduled for August 21.
The coming together of two leaders also puts an end to weeks of speculations on whether the two bitter political rivals will actually share stage together at a public event to campaign jointly for the by-elections. Despite the hype of two leaders joining hands, the turnout at the rally was visibly low. In 2005, Nitish Kumar allied with the BJP and ousted Lalu’s RJD from power.
Nitish and Lalu are due to address public rallies at Hajipur and Mohadi Nagar. They will continue their campaign together next week as well.
The RJD, the JD-U and the Congress have put together a seat-sharing formula for the by-elections for ten assembly seats scheduled to be held on August 21. Under the arrangement, Kumar and Lalu’s parties will contest four seats each; the Congress gets the other two.
The by-polls are being considered the semi-final event, with the grand finale being the state elections due next year.
The alliance between Kumar and Prasad – who were once prominent young leaders in the Janata Party in the 1970s before forming their own political paths – comes in the wake of the BJP’s sweeping victory in the Lok Sabha polls.
Bureau Report
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