BJP names Ananth Kumar as Bihar poll in-charge

The term of the current Assembly will end on November 29, 2015. The Bihar elections are likely to be held in the September-October this year.

The BJP, in the midst of Janata Parivar combination, hopes that the people of Bihar shun the caste factor and vote for a stable and transparent government. “They (Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar) are scared of us, <g data-gr-id="35">and</g> therefore, have joined hands,” a senior BJP leader said.

According to sources, the BJP’ will announce its Chief Ministerial candidate later and the party will contest the election with “Jai Jai Bihar, BJP Sarkar” slogan. 

However, senior BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha said that the party should declare its Chief Ministerial candidate to defeat Nitish Kumar, the present CM.

“It will be better if the BJP Parliamentary Board names a general, who would lead the troupe in the battle (Bihar poll),” said Sinha, MP from Patna Saheb constituency.

On Thursday, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi met Shah and said: "We have to work together to prevent Lalu and Nitish from coming to power.” 

When asked if the BJP will rope in Manjhi’s Hindustani <g data-gr-id="41">Awam</g> Party (HWP) to tap nearly 1.1 million Musahar population and 15 per cent (approx) Dalit vote share, party sources said: “His alliance with the BJP is yet to be decided, but we welcome his wish to support the NDA in Bihar.”

Recently, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had invited Manjhi to be a part of the Janata Parivar, which did not go down well with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar. However, Manjhi has refused to accept Yadav's invitation, saying that he will not join hands with any coalition that has Kumar. 

When asked how much seats the party is expecting to bag in Bihar, in the midst of alleged infighting within the state leadership, including Sinha’s resentment, he said, “At present, we have not calculated the seats, but we are expecting around 185 with our allies. All leaders are working hard in the state and we hope to get good results.”

Replying if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will <g data-gr-id="34">campain</g> in the state to woo voters, Sinha said: “It is yet to be finalized. To deal with the Opposition, we are enough to handle the situation.”