A day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar unleashed a veiled attack on his Gujarat counterpart, Narendra Modi, questioning his secular credentials to become NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate, State BJP leaders told the Central leadership that “enough was enough.” The BJP officially retaliated against Nitish Kumar with full force on Monday by saying it “did not need a certificate on secularism” from the Bihar CM.
“So far as any allegation, accusation against our CM is concerned, we completely abhor that. Kumar is nobody whose certificate is required as far as that particular aspect is concerned,” BJP spokesperson Meenakshi lekhi told reporters. She rubbed the point in that Kumar was part of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government when the Godhra incident took place and still continues to be a part of the NDA. “In 2002 too, Nitish Kumar was part of our (NDA) Government. During the Sabarmati Express incident (Godhra, 2002), he was the Rail Minister,” lekhi said.
On a day that saw the leaders of the two parties locked in a verbal duel, Modi loyalists from Bihar met party president Rajnath Singh and registered their protest against Kumar.
Former State unit chief CP Thakur, Health Minister Ashwani Choubey, Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh and PHED Minister Chandramohan Rai told the BJP president that party workers in Bihar were upset with the manner in which Modi has been attacked over the past few months.
The Bihar BJP leaders had skipped a recent meeting of the State executive, expressing resentment over certain organisational decision, and party chief had summoned them to national capital to discuss the issues. However, they chose the opportunity to highlight Bihar BJP’s failure to protect its own interest in alliance with the JD(U) there.
The BJP leadership is understood to have asked its Bihar leaders to exercise restraint till a formal decision on the PM-candidate issue is taken by the Parliamentary Board of the party. But, party leaders continue to express their displeasure with Nitish.
“The way Narendra Modi has been targeted has not gone down well with the BJP leaders and workers. It is surprising that he chose to attack Modi but had good words for the Congress and its leadership,” Bihar BJP chief Mangal Pandey said.
Young BJP MlA Nitin Naveen told The Pioneer that Narendra Modi was the party’s respected leader and any prominent leader of an alliance partner should refrain himself from attacking him. He said that Nitish Kumar should concentrate his energy on cornering Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh so that the UPA Government’s failures could be highlighted.
Meanwhile, posters projecting Narendra Modi as “next PM” have been put up in several places of Patna. Activists of Narendra Modi Vichar Manch have erected his posters, describing him as the “next PM”, while Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the “best PM” at various parts in the State capital.
On one side of Narendra Modi, there is a photograph of Dr CP Thakur while on another side, photograph of BJP Secretary and party MlA, Rameshwar Prasad Chourasia is seen.
It is learnt that the BJP leaders from Bihar told the BJP president that the party was not growing in Bihar due to its alliance with the JD(U) and conveyed their opposition to the continuance of ties with it. “We have told our party president about all the issues. He has promised us that he will take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time,” Giriraj Singh said after meeting with the party chief.
Rajnath Singh remained tight-lipped after the meeting, but the party continues to be apprehensive about the continuity of the alliance. A top BJP leader said, “Sometimes it (parting ways) becomes inevitable. When a political party passes a resolution then it is beyond a matter of loss or gain.”
The BJP leadership fears that the Nitish could be preparing to snap ties on ground of secularism and testing electoral waters on its own strength. Another section of the BJP feels that Nitish Kumar wants to “break free” to have manoeuvring space in a post-poll situation, which at present seems to be quite fluid.
Talking to Headlines Today, Rajnath said, “BJP is a secular party. It would have been better had this (Nitish attack on Modi) not have happened. Whatever has happened is unfortunate.”