Janata Dal (United) leader Vashishtha Narayan Singh on Wednesday took strong exception to party colleague Pavan Varma questioning ‘in publi’ the tie-up with BJP for the Delhi Assembly polls by extending the alliance beyond Bihar, calling it ‘absolutely’ an act of indiscipline.
Singh, a Rajya Sabha member and the head of the JD(U)s state unit, asserted that the decision to align with the BJP was taken after “due deliberation”.
He further said although the party respected freedom of thought of every member, it was ‘anuchit’ (inappropriate) on part of the career diplomat-turned-politician to make public his letter to the Chief Minister and national president Nitish Kumar.
“I consider his (Varmas) conduct as inappropriate and will put forth my views forcefully whenever a party meeting takes place”, Singh told a news channel. He also said “if there were any reservations, these ought to have been expressed in a party forum. People may have their individual opinions and the party respects that. But airing these in public is something I do not approve of”.
He also said Varma had ‘absolutely’ committed an act of indiscipline by sharing on the social media his two-page letter to Kumar in which the chief minister was reminded of the unease he had been allegedly expressing ‘in private’ over the BJPs ideology and agenda.
Varma had also mentioned that JD(U), which has been contesting separately from the BJP in states other than Bihar, recent examples being Haryana and Jharkhand, has allied with the saffron party in Delhi where an old NDA constituent like Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has refused to do so. Notably, unlike the JD(U) the SAD is a part of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. The party has opposed the exclusion of Muslims from CAA and refused to contest the Delhi assembly polls, despite a large population of Sikhs in the city, in protest against the BJPs refusal to pay heed.