Nitish's JDU to contest elections on its own in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh

The JDU on Sunday authorised its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to finalise the party's stand on seat sharing issue for 2019 Lok Sabha elections with the BJP.

Bihar Chief Minister and JDU Chief Nitish Kumar, General Secretary, K C Tyagi (L) during National Executive meeting at party headquarters in New Delhi. Photo: PTI

NEW DELHI: The JDU, a BJP ally, has decided to contest the upcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur on its own, the party said on Sunday. "The JDU will contest the election on its own in select seats in Manipur, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Some media reports say we are helping BJP but we are neither supporting them nor opposing them, we are not helping them," party general secretary KC told the reporters here.

Janata Dal (United) will contest election on its own in selected seats in Manipur, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Some media reports say we are helping BJP but we are neither supporting them nor opposing them, we are not helping them: KC Tyagi, JD(U) pic.twitter.com/pgjvzFBbbD

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2018

The JDU also authorised its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to finalise the party's stand on seat sharing issue for 2019 Lok Sabha elections with the BJP. In the party's national executive at its meeting, it was decided that Kumar will take the last call on the party's stand on political issues, including the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha polls. Chairing the meeting, Kumar reiterated what he had said last month that there are some people who want to "eliminate" him. "We cannot be eliminated or ignored," he said. The chief minister said whether his party remain in power or not but he will not compromise on crime, communalism and corruption. JDU leaders sought to play down reports of strain in its ties with the BJP over allotment of seats among the NDA parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and asserted that the ruling alliance will fight the election together and sweep it. "It will be decided later as to which party will contest how many seats. The NDA will fight the elections together and sweep the state," its General Secretary Sanjay Kumar Jha told reporters. In the meet, JDU also favoured simultaneous polls, a proposal being backed strongly by the Modi government. It, however, called for evolving a consensus through talks with other parties, sources said. Party leaders said the issue of number of seats in Bihar it will fight in the Lok Sabha polls did not come up for discussion. Kumar has been authorised to finalise its stand, they said. The executive also reiterated the party's opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Bill that allows Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan to be eligible for Indian citizenship after a stay of six years. Religion cannot be a basis for citizenship, it said.