The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday said it will mark its national presence by contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in several states, including Arunachal Pradesh.
Led by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, JD(U) is a centre-left Indian political party with political presence mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand.
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The party was formed with the merger of the Sharad Yadav faction of the Janata Dal, the Lokshakti Party and the Samta Party on October 30, 2003.
Addressing media persons at a city hotel here, JD(U) general secretary and in-charge of Northeast, Afaque Ahmad Khan informed that the party had taken the decision to contest the Assembly polls in Arunachal and other states during its national executive meeting held at Patna, the state capital of Bihar on Monday.
Khan, without naming anyone, said that many leaders from Arunachal have made contacts with their party expressing keen interest to contest the ensuing Assembly election on JD(U) ticket.
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“Though many have approached us, we will look into the credentials of the candidates,” Khan said adding that the names of the candidates would be put in the public domain at the appropriate time.
Denying any pre or post alliance with other political parties for the election, Khan informed that he along with the JD(U)’s North East Executive Council chairman N.S.N. Lotha are here in the capital to attend the two-day membership drive of the party and work on making policies to participate in the ensuing polls.
Lotha said it was their party which was the first to oppose the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 as the JD(U) believes in secularism.
“The bill was anti-secular, thus the party president and present chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar opposed it,” he said.
Lotha also condemned the Arunachal Pradesh government for allegedly experimenting with the sentiments and future of the indigenous people by allegedly bringing in the permanent resident certificate (PRC) issue into existence.
“We seriously consider PRC as a misdeed imposed on the indigenous people. Today, you (government) issue an order on PRC and the next day you revoke it after losing precious lives. An immature act of this sort was never expected from a BJP-led state government,” Lotha said.
The NEEC chairman added that JD(U) though is national in outlook, it is, however, totally regional in its approach.
“Top priority is given on regional issues in our party. If JD(U) is given a chance to form a government in Arunachal, we will ensure that the state is ruled and run by its own people,” he said.
The JD(U)’s motto for the Assembly election in Arunachal is ‘Development with Justice’.