Patna, Jan 23 (IANS): Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday appealed to the people of Rajput community to become united in favour of his JD-U.

He made the appeal at an event titled 'Swabhiman Diwas', organised on the death anniversary of Maharana Pratap, by his party at the Milar high school ground here. The upper caste Rajputs are considered core voters of the BJP and Nitish Kumar is seeking to make inroads in the community. He is also challenging ally RJD which is claiming to be "A to Z" party, rather than just depending on its core Muslim and Yadav supporters.

The JD-U has welcomed the guests in a grand style offering chicken and rice apart from other foods for them.

During the occasion, over 50,000 people of the Rajput community assembled at the place from across the state. During the occasion, they demanded the release of Bahubali leader Anand Mohan who is serving a life term in Saharsa jail for murder of then Gopalganj DM G. Krishnayya.

Reacting to the demand, Nitish Kumar, from the stage, informed them that he has been making an effort in this regard and Anand Mohan's wife Lovely Anand is well aware of this. He asked them to contact her about it.

"We are giving respect to the people of the Rajput community since Samata Party. We have sent many Rajput leaders to Vidhan Parishad and Rajya Sabha apart from giving tickets for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. We have recently established the statue of Maharana Pratap in the heart of the city," Nitish Kumar said.

Besides Nitish Kumar, every JD-U leader including Lalan Singh, Vashistha Narayan Singh, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Ashok Chaudhary, Sanjay Jha, Sumit Singh, Lesi Singh, Neeraj Kumar and many other leaders were present in the event.

The event was organised by JD-U MLC Sanjay Singh, who demanded a film city in the name of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput in Bihar and a medical college in the name of Maharana Pratap.