After Mamata Banerjee, now Nitish Kumar predicts early Lok Sabha polls

After West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, it is now Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who has predicted that the next Lok Sabha polls might be held early.

“It is not necessary that the (Lok Sabha) election will take place at the scheduled time. Some people are capable of doing anything in the country, which I have been repeatedly saying for the past seven months,” he said.

The statement comes two days before the crucial meeting of the Indian Nationalist Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.

Kumar, who played a crucial role in forming the INDIA bloc — an alliance of 26 Opposition parties — added, “We are going to Mumbai and I have a job at hand to unite the maximum numbers of Opposition parties of the country.”

Amidst speculation that Kumar may be appointed convenor of the INDIA bloc, the Janata Dal (United) leader clarified, “Personally, I have no interest in any post. I said the same yesterday and am repeating it today as well."

On the topic of new political parties joining the INDIA alliance, Kumar said, “I cannot comment on it as of now. It will be revealed during the meeting in Mumbai.”

As for the forthcoming general elections, on Monday, 28 August, it was West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who had first said that the Bharatiya Janata Party might conduct the Lok Sabha polls in December itself. She claimed that all the choppers in state had been booked by the saffron party for campaigning, suggesting they were in a bit of a hurry.

Speaking at a Trinamool Congress youth wing rally, Banerjee cautioned that a third term for the BJP would ensure the nation will bow to an "autocratic" rule.

“The BJP has already booked all choppers to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls, so that no other political party can use those for canvassing,” Banerjee said.

Banerjee also said that she had ended the three-decade CPI(M) rule in Bengal and would now defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

Hitting out at the ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, the BJP's student wing) and BJP activists who raised 'goli maro (shoot them down)' slogans in Jadavpur University, the TMC supremo said that she had instructed the police to arrest those involved in voicing hate slogans in the 'varsity campus.

"Those raising such slogans should not forget this is Bengal; this is not Uttar Pradesh," she warned.