Amid infighting, JD(U) to use pictures of only Nitish Kumar on all campaign material
India Today
Amid the bitter standoff between senior JD(U) leaders Lalan Singh and Union Minister RCP Singh, the party has decided to use pictures of only Nitish Kumar on all publicity materials.
Amid the ongoing cold war within the Janata Dal United between national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh and Union Minister RCP Singh, the party has now come out with a new directive aimed at curbing the infighting.
In a letter to party leaders and workers, JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha has directed that from henceforth, only pictures of party chief Nitish Kumar will be used on banners, hoardings, posters, stickers, pamphlets and handbills drawn up for publicity campaigns.
Kushwaha’s diktat assumes significance against the backdrop of massive infighting raging between Lalan Singh and RCP Singh camps in the party during the last few months. Lalan Singh and RCP Singh supporters have clashed several times when they saw pictures of their leader missing from the party’s banners and posters.
The state unit president admitted that the issue of which leader’s photo found a place on promotional banners and posters was turning problematic for the party. In a bid to rein in the spiralling conflict, the JD(U) decided to use photos of only Nitish Kumar on all future campaign material.
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Despite being in the same party, Lalan Singh and RCP Singh have been rivals for quite some time. The rift between the two leaders widened after the conclusion of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections earlier this year.
This is mainly because Nitish Kumar had entrusted the task of forging an alliance with the BJP for the UP polls to RCP Singh, but when he failed to do so, Lalan Singh hit out at him.
