Nitish's close aide refutes talks of JD(U) quitting NDA

JD(U)'s top leader and party president Nitish Kumar's closest confident RCP Singh has snubbed the spokesmen of the party and asserted that the party would remain in the NDA and there was no question of aligning with Congress and RJD. But he added that 2019 election would be fought in the name and works of Nitish Kumar. He coined the slogan "Badhta Bihar, Nitish Kumar."

Bureaucrat turned politician Singh's statement came on Tuesday amid the wide speculations and rumours over the stand of JD(U)  and possible alliance with RJD and Congress. Party spokesmen during the past few days had been uttering against BJP leadership and one even went t6o the extent of saying that BJP was free to contest all the Lok Sabha seats if it belittled the JD(U) and its president.

"The report of differences among NDA partners over seat sharing is more a media creation than the reality. The elections are still far away and so far there had been no talks among them over any poll related issue," said JD(U) national secretary Shyam Rajak. CM Nitish Kumar too had earlier stated the same.

Even when talks on the top level were yet to be held, speculations are rife in the politic al circles that JD(U) was apprehending that it might not get more seats for obvious reasons. First, the JD(U) was not a coalition partner of NDA in last parliamentary election in 2014 and had contested alone winning only two seats.  The NDA then had three allies: BJP, LJP and RLSP. The three parties together won 31 of 40 seats. Now of allies has risen to four with the entry of JD(U) last July.

Seemingly the ball is in the BJP's court as to how it would accommodate the Nitish's party without annoying its other allies LJP and RLSP. These two parties are also apprehensive that they might be deprived of some of their sitting seats. However, the JD(U) is likely to stake claim on the seats on the basis of the 2015 Assembly election in which the party won maximum seats only after RJD. The two parties, as well as Congress, then were allies and had left far behind BJP and its allies. The BJP and other NDA partners are unlikely to accept this formula.

Senior BJP leader and Road Construction department Minister Nand Kishore Yadav said that there would be no problem in seat sharing. "We will sit together once the election is announced and sort out all issues," he added.  The JD(U) is holding its national executive meet in New Delhi on July 8 where the party might reveal its plans and seat sharing issue. On the other hand BJP president Amit Shah is scheduled to arrive here on July 11 and expected to discuss poll related issues with his party's state unit as well as the top leaders of the allies.