Nitish Kumar to contest 2024 polls from Uttar Pradesh’s Phulpur?

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar may contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh’s Phulpur, according to sources.

Even as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is trying to unite the opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, speculations are rife that the JD(U) leader may himself contest the polls from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh.

According to reports, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has given an offer to Nitish Kumar to contest Lok Sabha elections from any seat of his choice in the state and promised his party's support. It is also learnt that several workers of Janata Dal (United) in Phulpur have demanded Nitish Kumar to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the constituency.

Janata Dal (United) national president Lalan Singh on Sunday also hinted that Nitish Kumar may contest Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh as he has been offered to fight election not only from Phulpur, but also from Ambedkar Nagar and Mirzapur Lok Sabha seat.

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"There is nothing to accept or deny. Whether Nitish Kumar will contest Lok Sabha elections or not will be decided only at the right time, but Nitish Kumar has been offered to fight Lok Sabha elections from Ambedkar Nagar and Mirzapur also. It is the result of his mission to unite the opposition parties that party workers are demanding that he should contest elections from Uttar Pradesh", Lalan Singh said

Lalan Singh maintained that Uttar Pradesh was an electorally crucial state for 2024 elections as it has maximum number of Lok Sabha seats. He said that presently, BJP has 65 MPs from Uttar Pradesh and if Akhilesh Yadav and Nitish Kumar, along with other opposition parties come together, the saffron party may be restricted to 15-20 seats.

"Uttar Pradesh is a crucial state where opposition unity is very important. If this happens, BJP will end up getting only 15-20 seats", he said