Nitish to address public in all 243 constituencies

PATNA: On his mission to rejuvenate the JD (U) following the party’s rout in May Lok Sabha election, former chief minister Nitish Kumar will address public meetings in all the 243 assembly constituencies after the ongoing ‘Sampark Yatra’ in Bihar. Nitish, who has covered 17 of the 38 districts till Thursday will conclude his ‘Sampark ‘Yatra’ at Punpun in Patna district on November 29.
State JD (U) chief Bashistha Narain Singh on Thursday said all the organizational programmes would be completed by March 2015. In the first fortnight of December, the meetings of the state executive and political advisers will also be held which will finalize the constituency-wise public meeting programme, he added.
He said over one lakh party workers have so far attended the meetings and had direct conversation with Nitish who gave them important tips for the next assembly election. “The party rank and file is being trained to counter the false BJP propaganda and its going back on the promises made during the Lok Sabha polls for special status and other facilities to Bihar. They are told to tell the public how the BJP through rumourmongering mobilized support in its favour,” Singh said. The party workers are also being apprised of the works done by Nitish for different sections of the society during his eight years tenure as CM.
Singh, however, downplayed the reports of the party workers requesting Nitish to remove Jitan Ram Manjhi as the chief minister. He said party workers are discussing a number of issues mainly related to JD (U) and preparation for the assembly polls. The workers have been telling Nitish, who hand-picked Manjhi to succeed him when he decided to quit owning responsibility for the Lok Sabha debacle, that the controversial statements of the CM were causing embarrassment to the party and generating anger among the public.
National JD (U) president Sharad Yadav is scheduled to address a political meeting in course of the Sampark Yatra at Supaul on November 23, Singh said and added that CM Manjhi will definitely attend some meetings.
The ministers and legislators are attending the political meetings in their respective districts.