THE LEADERS of Janta Dal United and Bharatiya Janta Party who are running a coalition government in Bihar would be drawing swords against each other in the political battleground of Uttar Pradesh where the two failed in reaching any amicable formula of seat sharing in order to contest the assembly elections schedule to be held in the month of February.

Nearly half of the ministers and top leaders from Bihar are expected to come to Uttar Pradesh in days to come in order to support their respective candidates during the election campaign programmes and that will include the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who will be coming to Uttar Pradesh to address rallies starting from the districts falling in the eastern Uttar Pradesh belt near Bihar border.

It will be an interesting contest to watch as those sharing power together in Bihar would be attacking each other in Uttar Pradesh. Janta Dal United national president Sharad Yadav while addressing the media here on Friday said his party was committed to give good governance to the state of Uttar Pradesh similar on the pattern of Bihar if voted to power. He dubbed the election manifestoes of the BJP, the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party as a mirage which attracts the person in a desert but never has water to quench his thirst. He asked from where these parties would generate money to provide all freebies listed in the manifestoes.

Sharad Yadav said he has also expelled party candidate Major J P Singh who was found involved in using unfair means in a sting operation that was conducted by a TV channel.

While replying to queries by the pressmen present on the occasion, Sharad Yadav said the Congress has made a promise of giving some 20 lakh jobs in their vision document but then the party is in power at the Centre, how many jobs they have provided till date in recent years? He also said the Congress was trying to cheat and befool people in the name of reservation to minorities.

He also criticized the present BSP government. He said by taking away the land from the poor farmers and gifting it to the builders would also not lead to any development of the state.

JDU general secretary Subhash Pathak told the media that Sharad Yadav would kick-start the election campaign from the Siddharthnagar district and will be addressing a public meet at Barhni from where he will be flying to Maharajganj. On Saturday, he will be visiting Tarabganj (Gonda) Harriya in Basti, Gosainganj in Faizabad and then he will address a public meet at the Saraswati Park in Sector-F, LDA colony in Lucknow on Saturday evening. Then on Sunday, Sharad Yadav will be visiting Mahasi in Bahraich Maharajganj and Gorakhpur. He will visit Basti on Monday by helicopter to address a public meet there.

Subhash Pathak told that Bihar chief minister and star campaigner of JD(U) Nitish Kumar will start his campaign from Tamukhiraj in the Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday. He said all necessary instructions have already been forwarded to the concerned district authorities for making necessary arrangements in this regard.