SHILLONG: Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) is keen to contest the upcoming district council and Lok Sabha polls.
The JD(U) could not field candidates in the February 27 Assembly elections since it could not set up its units in the state.
Suniel K Kashyap, National General Secretary in charge northeastern states, said JD(U) will explore the ways and means to field candidates in the upcoming district council and the Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kashyap, who is also the Yuva Janata Dal (United) leader, said the party is committed to expanding its base in Meghalaya.
“We fought the Nagaland Assembly polls. In Meghalaya, we could not fight the polls as we could not establish organisational base. Once it is strong, we are ready to face any election,” Kashyap said.
According to the JD(U) leader, though the party is part of NDA in Bihar, Nagaland and at the Centre, the upcoming election in Mizoram will be fought alone.
He said though the present Meghalaya government has partners supporting NDA, JD(U) will fight the elections in future alone.
Kashyap also hoped that the people of Meghalaya would welcome JD(U) since the party believes in the ideology of socialism.
“The North East is yet to be developed and in this context, the principles of socialism will have to be followed. Our ideology of socialism gives opportunity to all. We get inspiration from people like George Fernandez,” he said.
To a question, the JD(U) leader said in the 2019 polls, the party will fight the polls under the NDA banner.
He said many leaders, including some former ministers, are keen to join the party.
In Bihar, the party ensures 50 percent reservation for women in local bodies, Kashyap informed, adding that it was committed to promoting the youths and hence appointed Tony Marbaniang, who unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly polls as the state youth convener of the party
Liquor ban
Like in Bihar, there should be liquor ban in Meghalaya too, according to the JD(U) leader.
“The Bihar government will not withdraw the liquor ban as majority of women have welcomed the move though there is revenue loss of crores of rupees,” Kashyap said but added that before taking a final decision on this, “the party will conduct a survey”.
Citizenship Bill
JD(U) also opposed the Citizenship Bill while it welcomed NRC in Assam.
“India is a secular country. Nobody can give citizenship based on religion. The Assam student bodies had met Bihar chief minister over the Citizenship Bill but he was not happy as the plan was to provide citizenship on the basis of religion,” Kashyap said.
To a query, the JD(U) leader said the issue of NRC is being monitored by the Supreme Court.
“We welcome Assam accord which specifies 1971 as the cut-off year to identify genuine Indians. According to the accord, all foreigners who came to Assam on or after March 25, 1971, illegally will be detected and deported from Assam,” he added.
