Forget assembly poll results and look ahead: Nitish tells JD

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar onSaturday urged workers of his Janata Dal (United) to look atthe future banishing memories of the recent assembly electionsin which the party suffered humiliating losses.

The JD(U) de facto leader, who relinquished the post ofthe partys national president earlier this month, alsoasserted that the government in the state will ''complete itsfive-year term'', in an indirect rebuff to opposition leaderswho have been speaking of political instability.

Kumar was addressing the partys state council and stateexecutive meetings here, in presence of leaders like RCPSingh, who has succeeded him as the national president, andstate unit chief Vashishtha Narayan Singh.

The JD(U) could win only 43 seats in the October-Novemberpolls, down from 71 in the last elections in 2015.

The Chief Ministers assertions of completing the term cameat a time when opposition leaders like Tejashwi Yadav and allyturned adversary Chirag Paswan have been speaking of thepossibility of ''mid-term polls'' pointing towards the changedequations in the NDA in which the BJP now seems to have gainedthe upper hand.

Moreover, the BJPs failure to rein in the rebellion byPaswan, who continues to swear by his loyalty towards PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, has riled the JD(U) cadre.

''We must strive to work for all those who voted for usas well as those who did not. I would urge the candidates whofought and lost in the recent elections to devote themselvesto serving the people with gusto'', Kumar said.

He also asked party workers to ''make use of the socialmedia to spread positivity and counter those who misuse thevirtual mediums for spreading falsehoods''.

The 69-year-old, who returned as the Chief Minister forthe fourth consecutive term after the elections, reiteratedthat he was reluctant to hold on to the seat of power ''butagreed only because you all insisted that I continue working''.

Addressing the function, JD(U) president RCP Singhcautioned the rank and file against the hubris that comes frombeing the party in power.

Vashishtha Narayan Singh said ''we are incapable oftreachery though we might ourselves get cheated sometimes. Butwe have held our own in the face of adverse circumstances andthere is no alternative to our leader (Nitish Kumar) nor cananybody match his calibre''.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)