PATNA: Former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is on the move to revive ties with the Janata Parivar by campaigning for the candidates of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)- led by Om Prakash Chautala in Haryana.
He attended a Kisan Swabhiman Rally organised by Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh on Sunday.
The move to initiate ties with party, whose support base includes Jats in UP and Haryana, may not help Nitish to project himself as the tallest leader of the third front.
On the contrary, it may cost him dearly on his home turf, where his party faced a drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls this year.
Senior Congress leader Sadanand Singh, while questioning Nitish’s ‘political curability’ said it was surprising that he was in an alliance with the Congress in Bihar and was campaigning against party candidates in Haryana.
“There can’t be any other option without the Congress in national politics,” Singh said. Since Bihar hardly has any Jat population, the new ties will not be of much help to the JD(U) in the state.
Political analysts believe that Nitish faces an imminent challenge from the Rashtriya Janata Dal and his handpicked Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi as he may explore bigger political options in Delhi.
He has almost become a forgotten face in national politics.