Patna, June 4, 2018: The Janata Dal (United), prominent ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has expressed a desire to make Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar the face of the NDA for the state ahead of Lok Sabha Elections 2019. According to reports, the Bihar CM, who is also the president of JD(U), held a core-committee meeting with his party members on Sunday at his residence where the decision was taken unanimously. However, the final decision is likely to be inked in the upcoming scheduled NDA meeting, which is to be held in Bihar on June 7. Reports say that Nitish will be attending the meeting where strategies for the upcoming 2019 elections will be discussed.

The core-committee meeting called by the JD(U) head earlier was reportedly attended by party general secretaries KC Tyagi and Pavan Varma who came all the way from New Delhi. Along with them, the poll strategist Prashant Kishore and other prominent leaders also attended the meeting. Varma, while speaking to media after the meeting, said, "Kumar is the face of the NDA in Bihar, that is why he is the chief minister. JD(U) is the largest constituent of the coalition".

Also, Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi was quoted by ANI, regarding why Nitish Kumar led-JD(U) wants him to be the face of NDA for upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In Bihar, apart from JDU and BJP alliance, the NDA coalition comprises Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party. With just a few months left for the Lok Sabha elections, the JDU wishes to remain ahead in the race. Therefore, the party has expressed a desire to make Nitish the face of NDA in Bihar.

Earlier, in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP contested 40 seats and bagged only 22 MPs, while the JDU fought separately.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 04, 2018 12:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).