JD(U) blames poor management for poor show

Patna, Aug 12: Apparently embarrassed with the thin attendance at the maiden joint meeting of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JD(U) senior leader Nitish Kumar after over two decades of political rivalry, the ruling party in Bihar today said it could have been due to poor management and lack of publicity.

"We concede that the attendance at the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and the former chief minister Nitish Kumar's maiden joint election meeting near Hajipur yesterday has left much to be desired," the JD(U) state unit president Bashistha Narayan Singh said in reply to a question.

Preparations for the meeting were 'inadequate' as it was held on a short notice, he conceded. The leaders and workers of the two parties also did not publicise about coming together of their big leaders and as a result the event did not draw big attendance as it should have, Singh said.

Prasad and Kumar had shared the dais at Jamalpur village near Hajipur yesterday to kickstart the campaign for bypolls on ten assembly seats to be held on August 21 next. The JD(U), RJD and Congress have formed a grand alliance to take on BJP in the assembly bypolls, which is being seen as a semi-final for the next year's assembly polls in Bihar.

Singh said both parties have taken note of the reasons for the thin attendance and will take corrective measures to draw sizeable crowd for other scheduled meetings in future. Meanwhile, JD(U) paraded senior BJP leaders Shailendra Ojha and Rajeshwar Singh from Shahabad region and their supporters before the media.

The two leaders promised to work to fulfill Nitish Kumar's vision and ensure the victory of JD(U) candidate Chandra Shekhar Paswan from Mohania assembly seat in the coming by-poll.

PTI