Nitish Kumar set sets off on a 17-day Sampark Yatra to counter Modi-led BJP

PATNA: Janata Dal (United) leader and former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is set to embark on a Sampark Yatra in an effort to counter the surge of the Narendra Modi-led BJP and keep his prospects alive in the state elections, slotted for next November The Sampark Yatra will start from north Bihar, in Bettiah and Motihari, on 13 November. During the 17-day yatra covering 33 districts, Kumar will interact with party workers and leaders, restricting himself to engagements that have the participation of grassroots workers and party cadres.

“Nitishji earlier had an assortment of engagements during the many yatras he undertook in the past but this time it is going to be very different,” state JD(U) chief Basisth Narain Singh told ET. “He will address party workers and leaders besides getting feedback from them. He will offer valuable tips to workers from the booth to panchayat and block level. He will not address any public meeting.”

Following the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, the JD(U) leadership has come to the view that grassroots mobilisation is essential to halt the BJP’s advance, and Kumar seems to be leader most capable of rallying party workers at the ground level.

Kumar’s JD(U) could win only two seats with the BJP and its allies getting 31 out of the 40 LS seats. The RJD, Congress and NCP, which had forged an electoral tie-up, won just seven.

That forced Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad to leave behind their two-decade-old rivalry, leading to the formation of what has come to be known as a grand alliance that includes the Congress as well.