With the chances of the merger of the Janata Parivar all but evaporated, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has started to look into other options to improve his re-election chances in case things did not go well with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In the first of a series of planned meeting, Kumar on Wednesday held a meeting of the party legislators, both present and past; and MPs from five districts to strategize on ways to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay while also finding a way to marginalize RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Declaring that he would not compromise on the issue of leadership in the Assembly elections, Kumar sounded the poll bugle directing the party leaders, workers and supporters to prepare for the battle with or without the support of the RJD. "All of you need to go to the public and expose the BJP of its false promises and its destructive policies. Tell them about the rising prices, lack of development, and the NDA's failure to bring back black money as it promised during the Lok Sabha elections," he said. Bihar Legislative Council member Satish Kumar Singh, talking to the reporters, reposed his faith in the Chief Minister saying elections in Bihar would be contested under the leadership of Kumar and there was no way about it.
