Former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (PTI photo)
West Champaran:
On Thursday, former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will start a 'Sampark Yatra' from Bettiah town in West Champaran district.
This will be his first mass-contact programme since Mr Kumar resigned in May accepting responsibility for the drubbing of his party, the Janata Dal (United), at the hands of erstwhile alliance partner BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
Mr Kumar is scheduled to address 32 public meetings between November 13 - 29. During his tenure as the Chief Minister, Mr Kumar had embarked on three 'yatras' across Bihar - 'Vikas Yatra' in 2009, 'Seva Yatra' in 2011 and 'Adhikar Yatra' in 2013.
However, what's making this programme different is that it is aimed at party workers. According to the JD(U), the aim of the programme is "to activate the party at the grass-root level, energize and strengthen it and make party workers aware about the present political situation."
Mr Kumar's earlier programmes were all aimed at the public, with rallies held almost on a daily basis. In his last 'yatra' as chief minister, Mr Kumar had also faced a host of public protests at several places, with people waving black flags at him and complaining about alleged corruption on the ground.
This time around, sources close to Mr Kumar say the idea is to strengthen the party cadre base and try to create more unity among ground level workers of the Congress and Lalu Yadav's RJD, newfound allies in Bihar.
In state assembly elections due next year, Mr Kumar faces a tough test going against the alliance of BJP and Lok Janshakti Party, a party led by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
This will be his first mass-contact programme since Mr Kumar resigned in May accepting responsibility for the drubbing of his party, the Janata Dal (United), at the hands of erstwhile alliance partner BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
Mr Kumar is scheduled to address 32 public meetings between November 13 - 29. During his tenure as the Chief Minister, Mr Kumar had embarked on three 'yatras' across Bihar - 'Vikas Yatra' in 2009, 'Seva Yatra' in 2011 and 'Adhikar Yatra' in 2013.
However, what's making this programme different is that it is aimed at party workers. According to the JD(U), the aim of the programme is "to activate the party at the grass-root level, energize and strengthen it and make party workers aware about the present political situation."
Mr Kumar's earlier programmes were all aimed at the public, with rallies held almost on a daily basis. In his last 'yatra' as chief minister, Mr Kumar had also faced a host of public protests at several places, with people waving black flags at him and complaining about alleged corruption on the ground.
This time around, sources close to Mr Kumar say the idea is to strengthen the party cadre base and try to create more unity among ground level workers of the Congress and Lalu Yadav's RJD, newfound allies in Bihar.
In state assembly elections due next year, Mr Kumar faces a tough test going against the alliance of BJP and Lok Janshakti Party, a party led by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
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