Speaking to the Millennium Post on Thursday, party leader Shahnawaz Hussain said, “<g data-gr-id="33">Jai Jai</g> Bihar, BJP Sarkar would be our slogan and in the midst of confused and complex Yadav combination, we are confident to win the election.”
On February 22, 2015, Nitish Kumar took over as Bihar Chief Minister for the fourth time and the term of the current Assembly in the state will end on November 29, 2015. Therefore, it is expected that elections in Bihar will be held in the September-October this year. On the context of whether the party will rope in former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani <g data-gr-id="46">Awam</g> Party (HWP) before the poll to tap nearly 1.1 million Musahar (rat eaters) communities and 15 <g data-gr-id="48">per cent</g> (approx) <g data-gr-id="47">dalit</g> vote shares, Hussain said, “It’s true that we share a good relation with Manjhi ji. But so far there is no talk with him on merger or alliance.”
He, however, clarified that they will certainly fight the Bihar poll in alliance with the Lok Janshakti Party headed by union food and consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Recently, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has invited Manjhi to be a part of the Janata Parivar, which angered Janata <g data-gr-id="44">Dal United</g> (JDU) chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Then, Manjhi refused to accept Lalu’s invitation and said that he will not join hands with any coalition which has Nitish in it.
When asked how much seats the party is expecting from Bihar in the midst of alleged infighting within the state leadership including issue of Shatrughan Sinha’s resentment, he said, “Presently, we have not calculated the seats but all the leaders are working hard in the state and we are hopeful to get some good results. There is no infighting in party leadership in Bihar and all of us including Shatrughan ji are focusing on party’s victory in the state.”
<g data-gr-id="31">Replying</g> on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the BJP’s face in Bihar to woo the voters, he said, “It is yet to be finalized. To deal with the oppositions in Bihar, we are enough to handle the situation.” He also refused to comment on who would be the BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the Bihar election.
Meanwhile, commenting on policemen reportedly asked by Bihar CM to guard mango, litchi and jackfruit trees inside sprawling 1 Anne Marg <g data-gr-id="41">bunglow</g>, which is still occupied by Manjhi, Hussain said, “Nitish Kumar is losing weight worrying more about Aam (mangoes) than Aam Aadmi (common man).”
“Jungle Raj has returned to Bihar where dacoity and murder are commonplace. Police should be deployed for people’s security instead of securing mangoes and litchis at Manjhi’s house,” he said. It was learnt that Manjhi expressed his anger over the deployment of policemen by Nitish especially to guard fruit-laden trees in his residence to prevent anybody, including the residents, from picking them.