NEW DELHI: Janata Dal (United) workers on Sunday put up posters outside the party’s Patna office urging chief minister Nitish Kumar’s son, Nishant Kumar, to contest the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.Also Read | ‘My father is 100% fit’: Nitish Kumar’s son asks voters to make him CM again The posters, featuring photos of Nitish and Nishant alongside local party leaders, carried the message: “Karyakarton ki maang, chunav ladein Nishant” (JD(U) workers want Nishant to contest the election).The banners went up on the same day Nishant — the only child of the JD(U) supremo and in his 40s — is scheduled to address a public meeting in Patna, sparking speculation he may formally announce his entry into politics.The event, titled “Nishant Samvad” (Conversation with Nishant), shares its name with him and, according to its posters, will feature him “sharing his thoughts on the public welfare schemes” launched by his father as chief minister.Speculation about Nishant’s political debut had been rife around Holi, when he praised Nitish’s achievements and urged people to vote the Bihar CM back to power. At the time, banners describing him as “the new hope” of JD(U) appeared across the city, while sections of the media reported he was likely to be fielded from Harnaut — the constituency once represented by Nitish Kumar decades ago. RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav has repeatedly claimed that Nishant’s entry into politics is being blocked by a “cabal” within JD(U) allegedly aligned with the party’s ally, the BJP, to prevent JD(U) from securing long-term political prospects.
