Patna: Fresh from an electoral defeat in the Kurhani Lok Sabha constituency, the Janata Dal (United) wasted no time in launching the party’s national campaign. During JD (U)’s open session on Sunday in Patna, party president Lalan Singh said, “In 2018, we managed to get a five per cent vote in Nagaland, this time we will target above six per cent which will make us national party. I am sure that all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar would be won by JD (U). In 2024 we would make ‘BJP Mukht Bharat’.”
The defeat in Kurhani, which was Kumar’s first electoral battle against BJP after switching sides and joining the alliance with the RJD has left the Bihar CM red-faced raising questions about his leadership within the grand alliance. The loss of face in Kurhani notwithstanding, the party’s national ambitions stay on track.
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On Saturday, the party worker's “Desh Mange Nitish” calendar and posters were released during the Janta Dal United (JDU) Party’s National Council and National Executive meeting on Saturday. Each page on the calendar has a poster showing why Nitish Kumar is the ideal Prime Ministerial candidate and why he should be contesting in 2024.
JD (U) has elected Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh as the party’s National President for the second term. The term has a period of three years. The party also resolved to get the national party status and attain the larger goal of opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking about Singh’s contribution, Nitish Kumar said, “Lalan Singh got the responsibility of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he will make all the strategies for making JDU a national party.” JDU President Lalan Singh said, “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is uniting the opposition for the 2024 elections.”
While addressing the plenary session, Kumar alleged that his party's unsatisfactory performance in the last assembly elections was because of the then-alliance partner BJP. "They (BJP) should be reminded that never before had our party won fewer seats, either in assembly polls of 2005 or 2010. In 2020, we suffered as they tried to ensure the defeat of our candidates," said the JD(U) de facto leader about his former alliance partner which he did not mention by name.