The BJP and JD(U) in Bihar’s ruling NDA government on Sunday began drifting towards the brink of separation as two senior BJP ministers defiantly stayed away from chief minister Nitish Kumar’s public programmes in symbolic protest against his rebuff to BJP icon Narendra Modi.
Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and health minister Nand Kishore Yadav, both of the BJP, refused to participate in Mr Kumar’s ongoing Vishwas Yatra statewide tour a day after the state government controversially returned Rs 5 crores in flood relief aid from the Gujarat government in a unilateral decision without the state BJP’s knowledge.
In Ranchi, meanwhile, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha accused Mr Kumar of doing a “childish act”, and went on to add that if the chief minister did not want to continue his alliance with the BJP, “let him clearly announce it”. Saying he failed to understand the logic of returning the Gujarat government’s relief aid, Mr Sinha added: “There is no use of doing this drama.”
The BJP’s central leadership is scheduled to meet in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the party’s differences with the JD(U), where some of its senior Bihar leaders are also likely to be present.
Senior Bihar politicians Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan, meanwhile, in a swipe at their BJP-JD(U) rivals, described Mr Kumar’s move to return flood relief aid to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as a “political drama” and dared the saffron party to cut off ties “if it has any self-esteem left.”
However, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, speaking to reporters in New Delhi, said: “Our alliance with the NDA is old and our intention is that it should continue. The incidents of June 12 were unfortunate, but are now behind us. What has passed has passed. After June 12, we fought the Rajya Sabha polls together.”
In Patna, a pre-scheduled public meeting on Sunday evening where both Mr Nitish Kumar and Mr Nand Kishore Yadav were to speak had to be cancelled. Mr Kumar had to speak at another meeting at Paliganj without Mr Sushil Modi by his side. At the Gulzarbag Maidan in Patna, angry crowds that had gathered to hear Mr Kumar and Mr Yadav were seen protesting against the CM’s decision to return the Kosi flood relief aid to the Gujarat government.
Mr Sushil Modi, who is considered personally close to Mr Kumar and was seen with him at several Vishwas Yatra functions recently, surprised many in the JD(U) by his unusually strong expression of solidarity with the national BJP leaders. “I don’t want to accompany him (Kumar) due to his arbitrary attitude of returning the flood relief money to the Gujarat government,” said Mr Modi. BJP sources said his move endeared him to a wider section in the Bihar BJP that had long been critical of his proximity to Mr Kumar.
Mr Kumar’s snub to Mr Narendra Modi has fuelled anger in the BJP’s rank and file in Bihar against the dominant regional ally, JD(U), which has often been accused of indulging in means that led to the marginalisation of the BJP’s role in Bihar during the current coalition government.
Bihar BJP president and former Union minister C.P. Thakur, who was called to New Delhi as the rift between the BJP and the JD(U) appeared to grow, said: “We would talk with the JD(U) to dispel the confusion. But if talks fail, we will contest on our own in Bihar.”