A day after BJP lost power in Bihar the saffron party on Wednesday staged a massive demonstration in Patna condemning the “betrayal” of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who in 2017 in a similar act had joined hands with the BJP and shared power with it.
Ahead of Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav's oath-taking ceremony, BJP leaders in Patna raised slogans of 'Nitish Kumar murdabad' and some were seen holding placards that read, “Vishwasghaati Nitish Kumar’ after he broke alliance with the party, and formed a 'Mahagathbandhan' for a new government.
Bihar BJP top leaders Ravishankar Prasad, Takeshwar Prasad, Nityanand Rai, Sushil Modi, and Mangal Pandey with several others joined the protest.
The `Maha Dharna' (massive demonstration) staged in front of the party office at Birchand Patel Marg was also attended by all BJP MPs and MLAs from Bihar who vowed to “expose” the 71 years old JD(U) leader through agitations scheduled at district and block levels later this week.
“There is no other reason for the turnaround except his Prime Ministerial ambitions which make him envious of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He should first try to win a state election on his own, without using an alliance as a crutch”, said Union minister Giriraj Singh, the Chief Minister's best known detractor in the state.
The party rank and file seemed bewildered at the sudden turn of events which has taken the spotlight away from the “Har Ghar Tiranga” programme which the BJP was planning to hold with much fanfare. Kumar had on Tuesday pulled the plug on JD(U)'s alliance with the BJP and resigned, and followed it up by staking claim to form a new government with support of the opposition Grand Alliance.
The development seemingly shocked the BJP workers in the state Capital where it had organized its first ever joint national executive of the party's seven wings (morchas), attended by party president J P Nadda and, most importantly, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, only last month.
The party had issued a press statement asserting that it was looking forward to contesting the next Lok Sabha and assembly polls under Kumar's leadership, labouring under the impression that it would be sufficient to convince the septuagenarian of the BJP's bona fide.
“Nitish Kumar has joined hands with the most corrupt party and this will create problems in Bihar”, was one of the main refrain of BJP leaders on Dharna against the new dispensation in Patna.