Nitish to seek party MPs, legislators’ feedback today

PATNA : Former chief minister Nitish Kumar is spending most of his time and energy on strengthening the party base and boosting the JD (U) workers’ morale. Since demitting CM’s office on May 20, Nitish has already met the party’s district functionaries to feel the political pulse of the state. Before embarking on his ‘Sampark Yatra’ on November 13, he is scheduled to meet all the serving and former JD (U) MPs and legislators on Monday to get a feedback on the situation in their respective constituencies.
During his 17-day contact programme, he will cover 34 districts and hold political conferences with the party workers. There will be no public meeting. The Monday meeting assumes significance as the legislators have been asked to provide inputs about the political situation in their respective constituencies, the status of party organization and the people’s aspirations. They will tell Nitish about the RJD and Congress plan and the strategy of the rivals, particularly the BJP and its allies. Some legislators told TOI on Sunday they would brief Nitish about the weak organisational set-up in their respective districts and the people as well as the party workers’ feeling.
The legislators, on the condition of anonymity, expressed concern over the governance and said the law and order situation has worsened during the last five months under Jitan Ram Manjhi’s leadership. “People are very unhappy with Manjhi government and we have no face and courage to defend it,” said an MLA of central Bihar. “The crime graph has gone up and there is palpable social and communal tension everywhere showing the government has no administrative control over the situation,” said another legislator.
Some legislators had a common opinion that Nitish should come back as CM before the assembly elections, else it would be suicidal for the party. “We are not in a position to aggressively counter BJP’s propaganda and assert our stand. We feel handicapped,” said a former minister and added the party could be galvanized only under Nitish as CM. People, he said, love to recall the eight years rule and want to see development under him.