Patna, April 24: Raman Kumar Mishra (35) had voted for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. This private tutor from Naryanpur in eastern Bihar's Bhagalpur district had high hopes from Narendra Modi.

Eleven months into NDA rule, Mishra is working relentlessly to spread the word about good work carried out by Nitish Kumar in the hope that he continues to be chief minister after the next Assembly elections.

In Rohtas district in the far west, Ravi Tripathi (27) of Dhoran Dih village has similar feelings. Ravi, who works with a private telecom firm, thinks Nitish always keeps his word.

"Nitishji had promised better roads and an improved power scenario. He has delivered on both fronts. Today, there is a good road leading up to my village and we also get power supply there," Ravi said.

Raman agreed with Ravi. "Nitish has delivered on his promises," he said.

Unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faltered on his promise to bring back black money from foreign banks.

"I felt disappointed when it came to light that no such thing was going to happen," he said.

Raman and Ravi are not isolated cases. Over 31,000 youths have joined a group to voice support for Nitish Kumar. YOUth for Nitish G (YOUNG) is on a mission to solicit state's youths' support for Nitish.

"Though the idea of launching such a move was conceived last August, we hit the ground four months back and now boast of over 31,000 members," said Ranveer Kumar, a software engineer and founder member of the group.

So far the group is carrying out its activity with funds provided by members. "It is more like a voluntary contribution. We don't have any outside support," Ranveer said.

Elaborating on their methods, Raman, another founder member, said: "Our volunteers carry out group activity in their spare time."

Usually, a temporary kioskcomes up with banners detailing the goal of the group. Youths who visit the kiosk are briefed about the group's activities and, if they show interest to join, they are given a form to fill up.

One such kiosk, manned by just two people,came up near the passport office in Patna today.

"We are Nitish supporters and work to strengthen his hands. Please join our group, if you believe Nitishji has done good for the state," Ram Dayal, a man managing the kiosk, told visiting youths.

Around a dozen youths, who had come from various parts of the state to get their passports made and were waiting for the office to open, started making queries.

"These guys are talking sense. I always wanted to strengthen Nitish Kumar's hands and now there's a platform to do so," said Kaisar Alam, a 26-year-old youth from Araria district, while submitting his membership form to join the group.

Apart from setting up kiosksin different parts of Patna, the YOUNG team plans to take it to other districts, but is waiting for its volunteers in the districts do the same.

"We have limited resources. If some of our volunteers show interest in launching a membership drive in the districts, we would provide the set-up and membership forms," Ranveer said.

The YOUNG team is also taking the help of social media.

It has formed a Facebook page, YOUNG - YOUth for Nitish G, and Twitter handle youthfornitishg to draw internet users into their drive.

The team's efforts should help Nitish's JDU or the new avatar after the merger, but party leaders avoided making any comments.

"Nitish ji has blessed the group, but it has nothing to with political work of our party," a senior JDU leader said.

Social scientist Hetukar Jha refused to accept there was any wave among the youth to support Nitish, as apparent from the enthusiasm with which the youth are joining the group.

He said: "More than soliciting support for Nitish, those who have launched the group are marketing themselves." He said such activities had become a means to catch the people's attention.