BJP: JD-U ties not at cost of self-respect
Crisis-ridden BJP on Wednesday said it wants the alliance with the JD(U) to continue but not at the cost of its self-respect. The party said it had informed the JD(U) that pre-conditions like keeping Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi away from the election campaign in Bihar was not acceptable to it.
The BJP-JD(U) alliance was on the brink of collapse when Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar returned the Kosi relief fund of the Gujarat government. However, both allies said they want the alliance to continue. BJP chief Nitin Gadkari is likely to inform the media on Thursday on the future of the alliance. A crucial meeting chaired by Mr Gadkari was held on Tuesday which was also attended by deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Modi, senior leaders Ravishankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Hussain. The party’s state unit chief C.P. Thakur was also present.
However, BJP sources disclosed a majority section within the party has now started blaming the Gujarat chief minister for the entire crisis.
A senior party functionary said: “One man has put this 15-year-old alliance in jeopardy. Even the claim that the controversial ads were financed by a well-wisher of Gujarat seems so bogus. The entire ad campaign must have cost around Rs 30 lakhs and no well-wisher would have spent so much knowing that these ads would be printed in a state whose chief minister is averse to be associated with Modi.” Another senior party leader from Bihar said: “These ads should have never been published. Modi chose a wrong time and a wrong place to show how great his state is. Instead of election preparations, our party is busy sorting out this crisis. Even our cadre is confused whether we (BJP-JD(U)) will fight the election together or not.” Assembly polls are scheduled in the state in October-November this year.
The issue was even raised during the meeting of the party’s top brass and its senior leaders from Bihar on Tuesday, sources said.
On the Modi issue, another BJP ally Shiv Sena in the latest issue of its mouthpiece, Saamna, had written that the BJP’s Hindutva mascot Narendra Modi was not a national vote-catcher as portrayed by his party.
Though the BJP said it was “hurt” when the Bihar chief minister returned the relief fund, it also claimed it was in no mood to snap ties with the JD(U).
Earlier during the day, senior party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said: “The BJP and JD(U) are keen to run a good government and serve the people. That unfortunate incident (involving the advertisement showing Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Modi and the reaction of Kumar) was avoidable.”
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