New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) is holding a national executive meeting at its Patna headquarters in Bihar on Saturday. The Chief Minister visited the Birchand Patel Marg office on Friday to oversee the preparations for the meeting attended by JD(U) office bearers from across the country. It is to be followed by a meeting of the national council, the apex body of the party.
According to news agency PTI, slogans calling for a national role for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were raised ahead of the scheduled meeting, supporters chanted "Desh ka neta kaisa ho Nitish Kumar jaisa ho".
Nitish Kumar responded to the chants with folded hands and requested journalists not to embarrass him with questions about his being in the race for prime ministership, PTI reported.
As per the report, the banners put up at the JD(U) office on the contrary featured slogans that sent across the message loud and clear that the party expected its de facto leader to play a "national role".
Slogans such as "pradesh mein dikha, desh mein dikhega" (it has been seen in the state, now it will be seen across the country), "aagaz hua, badlaav hoga" (it is a beginning, change will follow) indicated the party's enthusiasm for the future prospects after Nitish Kumar walked out of the shadow of a domineering BJP and still managed to hold the toppost in the new alliance.
Some of the slogans also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi: "Jumla nahin, haqeeqat (reality not tall claims)" and "mann ki nahin, kaam ki tend to get lost in translation though the implied meaning is not lost on politically savvy citizens.
According to PTI, one of the slogans doing the rounds for the JD(U) chief at his office is "raja nahin fakir hai, desh ki taqdeer hai (He's a fair not a king, he's the destiny of the nation)".
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"On the one hand, we have a leadership that offers outlandish promises of ache din (better days), two lakh jobs per year and Rs 15 lakh into every bank account which are later dismissed by the then president of the very party as a jumla (rhetoric). On the other hand, we have Nitish Kumar who has walked the talk, be it on prohibition or on rural electrification," Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, national secretary of the JD(U), told PTI.
"The recent development in Bihar has set the tone for a political change nationally. The meetings of Saturday and Sunday will come out with a roadmap that would underscore the role to be played by Janata Dal (United) in this backdrop," Prasad added.
The agenda also includes organisational elections and a fresh membership drive while "national role for Nitish" is expected to dominate the narrative.
While shying away from a claim to the Prime Minister's post, Nitish Kumar has nevertheless made it clear that he was serious about fostering opposition unity and was in touch with many anti-BJP players.
The Left affirmed that with five decades of political experience behind him, the Bihar Chief Minister will play an important role in forging a united front to challenge the BJP juggernaut.
Telangana CM K Chandrasekhara Rao who visited Patna a few days ago also hailed his Bihar counterpart as "one of the best and senior-most leaders" in the country.
At a press conference that Nitish addressed jointly with KCR, the JD(U) leader said he would be aiming at cobbling together "not a so-called third front, but the main front".