No confrontation with BJP but we want to expand: JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha

Patna: working president Sanjay Kumar Jha on Thursday rubbished speculations that the party's push for grant of special status to Bihar could lead to a confrontation with the NDA government at the Centre.

The Rajya Sabha MP, who was on his first trip to the state after being appointed to the top party post, exuded confidence that under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) will do well in Bihar assembly polls due next year and expand its footprints elsewhere.

"Many are hoping that in the light of the party resolution passed last week, there is going to be a confrontation (with the Centre). Such people are in for a disappointment", asserted Jha, a former BJP man whose elevation is being seen as a signal from Kumar, the JD(U) supremo, that he wants good relations with the senior ally.

Jha added, "The resolution has also made it clear that we want help, be it in the form of special status or special package. The prime minister is sensitive towards our concerns. In the next five years, Bihar would be among the developed states, powered by ample central assistance." The former Bihar minister also uttered the famous Bollywood one-liner "tiger abhi zinda hai" (the tiger is still alive) and underscored that the ageing chief minister proved his mettle in the recently held Lok Sabha polls.

"A section of the media had been writing off Nitish Kumar, underestimating his leadership that transformed Bihar, earlier seen as a difficult state to govern. They had a reality check in the elections", said the JD(U) leader, whose party won 12 seats, as many as the BJP did in Bihar.

After the TDP, the JD(U) has since emerged as the second largest partner of the BJP which fell short of majority and became heavily dependent on allies to form the government at the Centre.

"The NDA led in 177 out of 243 assembly segments in Bihar in the Lok Sabha polls. Under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, the coalition hopes to better its own record of 2010, when we won more than 200 seats, in the Vidhan Sabha polls due next year," Jha said.

"Besides, we shall be trying to expand our base in other states by presenting Nitish Kumar's performance in Bihar as a model for governance.

"We wish to contest assembly polls in adjoining states like Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, as well as farther ones like Delhi and the north-east," said the JD(U) working president.