The Janata Dal (United) today announced its decision to contest the 2021 Assembly polls in Bengal while ruling out any immediate possibility of an alliance with the BJP here despite being part of the NDA government at the Centre.

Within few days of Chirag Paswan’s Lok Jan Shakti (LJP) having announced in Kolkata that it will contest all 294 seats in the Bengal polls without any alliance, the JDU, which recently formed a coalition government in Bihar along with the BJP, today announced its ambitions to contest Bengal polls.

Addressing the Press, Bablu Mahato, chairman of the election committee of JDU West Bengal, said, “Bihar and Bengal have different political landscapes and hence we do not feel it is mandatory to strike an alliance with the BJP here.” A party insider said JDU will keep its options open and may even consider an alliance with Trinamul Congress if necessary. However, JDU, which has formed a fivemember committee in the state with Vivek Shukla as the general secretary and spokesperson, is yet to announce its candidate list which it said will soon be finalised in their upcoming conference at Siliguri.

Meanwhile, Mahato clarified that though the party had its presence in Bengal since 2005, at present it is looking towards establishing a strong and permanent foothold to establish an alternative narrative that advocates for “violence- free politics in Bengal”.

The JDU leader further added that his party is in touch with several workers from other political parties in Bengal who are “frustrated with the TMC-BJP nexus in the state that is wreaking political violence in Bengal.” He added that internal schisms inside both these parties have now become apparent. Taking at dig at BJP state president Dilip Ghosh’s ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ intiative, Mahato said JDU is here to do ‘Kaam Pe Charcha’.

“Our leader Nitish Kumar believes that Bengal is demanding a change in power and hence JDU will provide its people with an alternative. We want peace in Bengal from CoochBehar to Junglemahal. Without an atmosphere of calm, no development can take place here,” he said.