At meeting with JD(U) office-bearers, Nitish Kumar to spell out party's position on ties with BJP, strategy for Bihar polls

New Delhi: Bihar chief minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar is likely to articulate his party’s position on a host of issues, including the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, at its national executive meeting on Sunday amid a strain in its ties with the BJP. [caption id=“attachment_4396593” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Nitish Kumar. News18[/caption] Nitish held deliberations with his party’s office-bearers on Saturday, the eve of the national executive meeting. There has been speculation that the Kumar-led party may explore revival of its alliance with the RJD and the Congress, a suggestion rejected JD(U) leaders, but which has gained ground due to its public differences with the BJP. Several leaders of the Bihar-based party have demanded its preeminent position in the BJP-led NDA restored, a status it enjoyed in the alliance until 2013 when Kumar broke ties with the saffron party. With the BJP gaining strength in the state following its sweep in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it is unlikely to give the JD(U) a bigger status and political watchers believe that Nitish has been jockeying for fighting about 15 seats in 2019. The BJP had won 22 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and its allies, Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP and Upendra Kushwaha-led RLSP had six and three respectively. The JD(U) had won only two seats. JD(U) leaders have argued that their party had performed much better than the BJP in 2015 assembly polls and its results should be considered in the allotment of seats for the Lok Sabha election. Nitish has refrained from commenting on the issue in public and so has the top BJP brass.