By Manoj Pathak
Patna, Dec 18 (IANS): A rerun of Bihar politics is all set to be witnessed in West Bengal early next year. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is running the government in Bihar in alliance with the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U), is expected to enter Bengal with all guns blazing in the 2021 assembly elections.
The saffron party's ally JD-U is also all set to contest independently on 75 assembly seats in Bengal. Apart from the JD-U, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), which is part of the Bihar government, will also be seen flexing its muscles ahead of the West Bengal elections.
Preparations have been started by the political outfits of Bihar for next year's assembly elections in West Bengal.
The JD-U's West Bengal in-charge and Legislative Councillor Gulam Rasool Balyawi has made it clear that the JD-U is preparing to field candidates for 75 assembly seats in Bengal.
Sources said that if there is no political understanding between the BJP and the JD-U in Bengal, then both the parties could be seen contesting independently in the political field.
JD-U Secretary General K. C. Tyagi also said that the party's preparations are in full swing for the West Bengal elections. However, the number of seats on which the party would contest is yet to be formally decided.
Balyawi said that the party's West Bengal unit has been active for the last three years and 75 seats have been earmarked for the polls.
Asked about the JD-U and the BJP's political confrontation, Balyawi said there will be talks in this regard between the leadership of the two parties. If both parties agree, they would fight the elections together.
He, however, also said that the party is in alliance with the BJP only in Bihar. The JD-U has earlier contested elections alone in Bengal.
Sources in Bihar say that many party leaders of West Bengal met JD-U president and state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on Thursday and there were discussions about the Bengal elections.
The principal opposition party in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), will also be in the fray in West Bengal. RJD leader Shyam Rajak said the party would make all out efforts to support the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its Chief Mamata Banerjee for the post of Chief Minister.
The Hindustani Awam Morcha, founded by former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and which is in alliance with the JD-U and the BJP since the 2020 Bihar elections, has also announced it will field candidates in the West Bengal elections.
HAM Spokesperson Danish Rizwan said the party is in talks with many other parties ahead of the Bengal Assembly polls. He said that if there is no agreement with any other party, then HAM would enter the fray alone.