JD(U) to hold deliberations to finalise LS poll strategy

JD(U), which has hitched its wagon to a non-Congress non-BJP Front after parting ways from the BJP, will hold a two-day brainstorming session here beginning tomorrow to finalise its strategy for the next Lok Sabha polls.

Bihar is the only state where the party is in power with outside support from Congress and others, while it has minuscule presence in some other states like Jharkhand, Nagaland, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

It was two MLAs in Jharkhand and one each in Gujarat and Nagaland.

Party general secretary Javed Raza said the two-day party meet chaired by party chief Sharad Yadav will be attended by PCC chiefs and CLP leaders of 28 states during which the party will discuss its electoral plans for 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

There is no clarity on whether Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be able to attend the programme or not.

JD(U) had walked out of NDA in June last year snapping its 17-year-old ties with the BJP protesting against elevation of Narendra Modi, who was then made the Campaign Committee Chairman of the main Opposition party with great fanfare.

Kumar and Modi never saw eye to eye with each other and the party had projected the JD(U) walking out of NDA as a decision taken after BJP "drifted" from the national agenda of the NDA, which was catalyst for bringing them together. Modi was later declared BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate.

The party attended a national convention against communalism on October 30 last year, giving indications of its inching closer towards a non-Congress-non BJP formation.

11 non-Congress and non-BJP parties formally joined hands on Wednesay as a block in Parliament to pitch for pro-people, anti-communal and federal agenda.

Addressing the media then, the JD(U) President had said, "A joint programme will be launched later which will be the second step".

While Congress sees a sharpening of the "communal versus secular" debate in formation of such fronts, the JD(U) President has been made it clear that there is no possibility of his party going with Congress.