BJP, JD(U) rift widens as Sushil takes on Nitish

NEW DELHI/PATNA: The trouble between ruling coalition partners JD(U) and BJP aggravated on Sunday, with Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi calling off his plans to accompany chief minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on his Vishwas Yatra and Kumar retaliating by cancelling his programme to attend a BJP rally in Patna.

With the alliance having reached a critical point, the buzz in BJP circles in Patna is who will blink first and snap the ties between the two parties that weathered five parliamentary and two assembly elections in Bihar.

On their part, BJP leaders have already swung into action to iron out the differences between the allies, with just about four months to go for assembly elections in the state.

A senior party leader said, "We are hoping to talk it out and resolve the problem over the next couple of days." In fact, senior party leader Arun Jaitley, who has close ties with Kumar, has already spoken to the chief minister over phone from Europe, where he is vacationing. BJP's top leaders will be meeting here on Monday to discuss the Bihar issue and find ways of resolving it.

While BJP had decided to downplay the "insult" by Nitish Kumar who returned the donation for Kosi flood victims from Gujarat on Saturday, matters seemed to have fast spinned out of control, even as both sides maintained on Sunday that "the alliance will continue" despite the rift that has arisen on account of the 'overwhelming' presence of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in Patna last weekend. Modi had so far been kept out of Bihar, which has a considerable Muslim population, as his hard Hindutva image could have come in the way of Nitish Kumar's attempt at wooing Muslim votes.

Bihar BJP chief C P Thakur told TOI that "BJP was not afraid of going it alone if things came to that, but we would not want that to happen and would prefer to keep the 15-year-old alliance going as the coalition government has worked well for Bihar over the past four-and-a-half years."

If a section of BJP is upbeat that there has been a resurgence in the party following the presence of Narendra Modi in Patna and the spat that followed between him and Nitish Kumar, there is a strong section in BJP's Bihar unit which feels that the party did well for itself in the state without Narendra Modi and it was his overwhelming presence that has created problems for Nitish Kumar and hence the alliance. "Since BJP performed well and got 34 Lok Sabha seats from the state without the help of Narendra Modi, what was the need for him to make his presence felt in such a big way. It does not go with Bihar's politics," explained a senior BJP leader from the state.

BJP playing second fiddle to bigger partner JD(U) and CM Nitish Kumar in the government in Patna may have suited the alliance well, but has created resentment among BJP cadres and even some leaders in the state. With elections coming up, this section feels that BJP might be short changed in terms of seat sharing, if the party does not assert itself. The hardline within BJP was reflected on Sunday, when senior party leader from neighbouring Jharkhand Yashwant Sinha said in Ranchi, "If the chief minister (Nitish) does not want to continue the alliance with BJP, let him clearly announce it. There is no use of doing this drama." He said he did not understand the logic behind returning the relief funds to Gujarat.

But in New Delhi, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav downplayed the events, saying, "Our alliance with 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." BJP leader from the state, Shahnawaz Hussain, also called on Yadav on Sunday.