Lok Sabha elections may be preponed, says Nitish Kumar ahead of Oppn unity meet

Ahead of the Opposition unity meet in Patna on June 23, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said that there was a possibility of early Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking at a function organised to lay foundation stone and inaugurate 5,061 schemes of different rural development department works in Patna, Nitish Kumar said, “I was told during the department’s review meeting that all projects would be completed by January 2024. I will request you all to complete all projects as soon as possible. Nobody knows when the Lok Sabha polls will be held. It is not necessary that Lok Sabha elections will be held next year only. It is possible that it may be held before time, i.e., this year itself.”

Kumar asked the officials through video-conferencing to complete all projects before schedule. “The sooner it is finished the better it is. And also give a clear message to the public about the work done by the state government. I will be happy if the work is completed early,” he said.

Targeting the Centre, he said that during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s leadership, rural roads were built with 100% central funds, but those ruling at Centre now has reduced it in the ratio of 60:40 (Centre:state). “It is called PM Sadak Yojana but only 60% fund is provided by the Centre. We will construct it on our own,” he said.

Grand Alliance (GA) leaders in Bihar said that the early Lok Sabha election issue can be discussed during the Opposition unity meet on June 23. Almost all leaders barring Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekhar Rao would be attending the meeting.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Barty (BJP) hit back at Kumar’s comment on early elections. “CM Nitish Kumar is propagandising early polls just to grab headlines. He is in a great hurry and under pressure from RJD to quit and elevate Tejashwi Yadav as CM of Bihar. He is dreaming of becoming PM and is creating his own hypothesis,” said Bihar BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal-United (JD-U)’s partner in the Grand Allaince, backed Kumar’s apprehension of early polls. “The BJP is nervous. With the Opposition unity move, inflation, increasing unemployment… they cannot face the people,” said RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav.