After Nitish Kumar denies plans to contest Lok Sabha polls from UP, JD(U) state unit hopes he will reconsider

Days after JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar denied the possibility of contesting the 2024 general elections from Phulpur, the party's Uttar Pradesh unit remains hopeful that he will reconsider the decision to send a larger message of Opposition unity against the BJP.

Some Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders also welcomed the idea. Dismissing speculation over his candidature in the Lok Sabha elections from the Phulpur constituency of Uttar Pradesh, Kumar said on September 20 that he is only interested in uniting opposition parties ahead of the parliamentary polls.

The Bihar chief minister also asserted that his efforts should reap benefits for the younger generation, "for people like (his deputy) Tejashwi Yadav". Uttar Pradesh JD(U) president Anoop Singh Patel said the party state unit hopes that Kumar will reconsider his decision.

"We had given a proposal to him (Nitish Kumar) at the party's recent national convention in Patna to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Phulpur, Mirzapur or Ambedkar Nagar. We haven't got a concrete answer, so we are hopeful," he said. He added that the proposal was put forth after holding discussions with state party workers.

Elaborating on the choice of seats, Patel said, "Our voters (Kurmi) constitute nearly 40 per cent of the electors in these seats." On the choice of Phulpur, Patel said, "The first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected from Phulpur. Former prime minister V P Singh was also elected from the seat. When our leader will contest from Phulpur, it will certainly send a strong message."

"Ambedkar Nagar is the birthplace of socialist ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia, and since we are disciples of Lohia ji, we have shortlisted this constituency as well," he said. Mirzapur is very close to Bihar and "from there, we will send a message to Varanasi — the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — that party workers of UP and Bihar are together", he added.

JD(U) leader Asheesh Saxena said if Kumar contests from any of the Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, then it will definitely send a strong message of Opposition unity across the country. With 80 Lok Sabha constituencies, Uttar Pradesh sends the maximum number of MPs to the Lower House.

Bihar has 40 Lok Sabha seats. SP MLC Ashutosh Sinha told SP MLC Ashutosh Sinha.