Patna, Jan. 16: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today hinted at campaigning for the JD(U) in Uttar Pradesh after the first leg of his Seva Yatra concludes at Nalanda on January 21.

“I may go to campaign in UP if my party allows me to do so,” Nitish said, speaking in the fashion of a “disciplined” party worker despite being his party’s undisputed face.

The JD(U) would contest the UP Assembly polls alone after it failed to reach to consensus on seat-sharing. Against this backdrop, Nitish’s campaign in UP would be keenly watched by the political observers because Sushil Modi, his deputy in the JD(U)-BJP alliance government in Bihar, might campaign for the BJP.

The reports of Nitish’s archrival and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi campaigning in UP have added spice to the campaigning in the run-up to the Assembly polls. Known to guard his secular credential, Nitish has never allowed his Gujarat counterpart to campaign in Bihar.

The political circles in Bihar are agog with several queries on the pattern of electioneering in UP. “Will Nitish end up fighting against Narendra Modi on the turf alien to both of them? Will Sushil Modi, who has seldom differed with Nitish on any issue in Bihar, attack the JD(U) in UP?” asked a senior citizen of Bihar capital.

Well, such open battles are unlikely. A close inquiry into the strategies of the Bihar-based political parties trying their luck in UP revealed that the top BJP and the JD(U) leaders who are “comrades in arms” here, have struck an unwritten understanding on not speaking against each other in UP.

“Modi would not speak on Nitish if he campaigns there. Similarly, Sushil Modi will ‘showcase’ the achievements of the JD(U)-BJP governments in Bihar to woo the UP voters rather than speaking anything against the JD(U) candidates,” an insider of the JD(U).

Nitish too, according to sources close to him, will avoid speaking anything against the BJP.

“There are many other rivals to be targeted in UP. He (Nitish) will make the Congress the primary target of his attack. He may also attack Mualayam Singh Yadav, describing him as a replica of Lalu Prasad in UP,” said a Nitish aide, adding that the Bihar chief minister would focus on the work he has done in the state.

But the RJD and the LJP, the rivals of the BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar, will try to “expose” Nitish’s dalliance with the “communal forces” by citing the example of the tacit understanding between the BJP and the JD(U) in UP.