Bihar polls: AAP plans Delhi meet to boost Nitish

The message to the participants at the convention will be to vote and also mobilise support for Nitish when they visit Bihar for Chhath Puja, which will be celebrated around the time when the polls are expected to be held.

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JD(U) secretary-general K C Tyagi said similar programmes will be held at Mumbai, Kolkata and Guwahati. The party is trying to rope in West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for the Kolkata show. The Congress is likely to help Nitish with the Mumbai and Guwahati programmes.

This will be the first time Kejriwal will share a public political platform with the leader of another party. To project himself as a paragon of virtues from the beginning, Kejriwal has carefully avoided any association with leaders of other parties. Nitish obviously seems a safe bet to Kejriwal, given the former’s clean image. Like most non-NDA parties, Kejriwal is keen on checking BJP’s march. The upcoming Bihar polls are crucial as they are being seen as a test for assessing the current popularity-level of PM Narendra Modi. Another defeat for the BJP after the party’s dismal show in Delhi polls would mean a big setback for Modi, just as a victory would mean otherwise. It is for this reason that Samajwadi Party president  Mulayam Singh Yadav and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav have brought Nitish and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav together and made them seal a seat-sharing agreement. The Congress is also part of this alliance.

Kejriwal has already announced that AAP will not field any candidates in Bihar. He is reluctant to openly join hands with Lalu in view of his conviction in a corruption case. Therefore, the Delhi function is a way to help Nitish without being seen in the company of Lalu.

Nitish, too, has conveyed to Kejriwal that he would participate in the seminar, “Co-operative Federalaism,” planned by the latter here on September 22.  Mamata Banerjee may also turn up for the seminar, which is part of Kejriwal’s efforts to drum up support for his demand his government be given more powers.