 "Don't want anything for myself, just keen on uniting oppn parties: Nitish")
Dismissing all speculations over his candidature in Lok Sabha polls from Phulpur constituency of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said "he is only interested in uniting opposition parties ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls".
Kumar also asserted that his efforts should reap benefits for the younger generation, "for people like (his deputy) Tejashwi Yadav".
"These are mere speculations and there is no basis for such talks. I don't know the source of such reports. I am only interested in uniting all opposition parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections," said the CM when asked if he had plans to enter the Lok Sabha contest from UP.
"I don't want anything for myselfwhatever I am doing, it is for the younger generationfor people like Tejashwi Yadav," he added.
Speculations about Kumar eyeing the Phulpur seat became rife after JD(U)'s national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh on Saturday said that party workers and leaders in three constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, especially Phulpur, want the Bihar CM to contest Lok Sabha polls.
The JD(U) chief had also said that Nitish, in a tie-up with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, could defeat the formidable BJP in adjoining Uttar Pradesh.
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"If Nitish and Akhilesh come together, the BJP, which along with its ally Apna Dal had won 64 Lok Sabha seats in UP in 2019, could be bundled out for less than 20," Lalan Singh had claimed.
Enquired if he would attend the opposition leaders' rally in Haryana on September 25, the CM replied in positive.
"Definitely! I will attend the Indian National Lok Dal's public rally in Haryana on September 25. RJD leader and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav will also join me, he asserted.
Among others, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav are expected to attend the Haryana rally by INLD.