Nitish Kumar with Raja Peter (right), who defeated Shibu Soren to change the political scenario in January, at the JD(U) meet in Bokaro on Wednesday. (Pankaj Singh)

Bokaro, Oct. 28: In the wake of uncertainty over the JD(U)’s pre-poll alliance with the BJP, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said that the party would announce the names and number of candidates in Patna on November 1 in the presence of party president Sharad Yadav.

“BJP president Rajnath Singh had contacted us over the phone on the seat-sharing issue. I told him that the final decision will be taken after the party workers’ training camp, which ends tomorrow here. The political agenda of the party and other issues — such as how many seats JD(U) will contest and where it has a very strong base — will be finalised in this camp,” Nitish said.

“Had the BJP entered into an electoral pact with Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana, the present political scenario will have been different. We hope a similar mistake is not repeated,” said Nitish, after attending the JD(U) training camp’s inaugural session at Sector I today.

Others in the function included state JD(U) president Jaleshwar Mahto, Raja Peter, Bheem Singh, Shailendra Mahto, Ghulam Rasool Baliavi, Ashok Chowdhry, Ram Chadra Kesri, Madhu Singh, Abhaya Singh and others.

On who his role model in the state would be, Nitish said that the Bihar model of “susashan” (good governance) would be implemented here if they come to power.

While addressing party workers, Nitish compared Jharkhand’s history to old classical tragedy films and blamed the state’s leaders for its present state.

“If Bihar can get awards for being the best e-governed state, why can this not come up in Jharkhand? In Bihar, criminals have been chased out due to strict law and order,” he claimed.

Bihar is now coming up with the Prevention of Corruption Act, according to which the government will automatically seize illegally amassed property.

The court will have to decide whether the property was amassed legally in one year. If earned through the right means, the government will return the property with 5 per cent interest or seize the property if found otherwise.

“The proposed law has been sent to the Union ministry and will come into effect to teach tough lessons to corrupt politicians,” said Nitish, asking people to use their intelligence while voting.