Patna,(BiharTimes): Janata Dal (United) strongman Nitish Kumar is not campaigning in Jharkhand where there is a huge Bihari origin voters and his party had been sharing power with the BJP in early years of the formation of the state.

In contrast he took time off from the politics of Bihar to campaign in Haryana a few weeks back when the fact is that the Janata Dal (Unied) has no base whatsoever in that state. The party ended up getting a few hundred votes in a handful of Assembly constituencies. Nitish campaigned for the scam-tainted and convicted Om Prakash Chautala and his party, Indian National Lok Dal, knowing fully well the electoral prospect in that state.

Last December his party took part in the Delhi election and was virtually routed though it has much more Biharis than Haryana.
In 2012 he campaigned in Uttar Pradesh and supported the Apna Dal, said to be the party of Kurmis. Apna Dal is now an ally of the BJP. In UP too Nitish failed to have any impact whatsoever. In West Bengal too he showed some signs of coming close to Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, but was cold-shouldered by the latter.

But in Jharkhand, where his party once used to have five MLAs and a ruling partner Nitish is not going to campaign for his party’s candidates, who are at several places locked in a friendly contest with even the RJD.

The RJD spokesman, Manoj Jha, tried to underplay the presence of the candidates of both the parties in several constituencies even when they are part of grand alliance in Bihar.

It remains a mystery as to why Nitish has given a skip to Jharkhand when he toiled so hard in Haryana where INLD contested against the Congress, with which JD(U) has an alliance in Bihar.

On the other hand RJD has not left the Congress camp. Rabri Devi campaigned in Haryana in absence of ailing Lalu. The RJD supremo, who has just recovered from heart operation, is campaigning for his party’s candidates in Jharkhand though he is yet to visit Bihar.

The JD(U) seems to have lost all hopes in Jharkhand though recently it had the giant killer, Raja Peter, in the party. Political observers are of the view that the party has perhaps put up its candidates because of the pressure from below. But Nitish is avoiding campaign, especially when Lalu is already in the field. He seems to be selective in his fight against the communal forces.

Analysts say that it would have been better had Nitish gone to Jharkhand to countner Narendra Modi, especially in the non- tribal belt.

Though Jharkhand was carved out on November 15, 2000 in the name of tribals, the fact is that there are about 27 per cent Adivasis in the new state. Non-tribal political parties like JD(U) could still have survived like the RJD. But Nitish seems to be least interested in reviving its fortune, and more keen in expanding his influence in Haryana, UP and West Bengal.