Party to request Pranab to change schedule, feels Bihar Government trying to sabotage Modi's Patna rally
BJP leaders are planning to brief President Pranab Mukherjee about the Bihar Government's alleged 'ploy' to put up hurdles for Narendra Modi's October 27 rally in Patna in the name of the President's Bihar visit during that time. BJP leaders would seek an appointment with Mukherjee on his return from Belgium and Turkey.
Bihar BJP is crying foul after it became clear that Mukherjee would be in Patna to attend a convocation at IIT, on October 26 and unveil a statue of Babu Jagjivan Ram in Ara district, some 50 km from the State Capital, the next day.
However, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has rejected the charges and said that the President's visit was pre-scheduled. Preparing for an unprecedented rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, BJP leaders suspect the police would block movement of Modi supporters and party workers in the name of security arrangements for the President.
“We will not allow the President to fall victim to the JD(U)'s politics. Some people are trying to fire from the President's shoulders. We will meet the President on his return from abroad and apprise him of the entire situation,” BJP spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said.
The former Union Minister claimed the Government first denied permission to hold a rally at Gandhi Maidan and later came up with this programme of the President.
“Nitish Kumar has lost the courage to take on Modi directly. He knows the crowd at Modi's rally would break all records. Nitish cannot match Modi's charisma, so he is firing from the President's shoulder,” Hussain said.
Rejecting charges that the State Government was plotting to sabotage the rally, Nitish Kumar said: “On the President's forthcoming visit to the State, I'd like to say that nowhere is the State Government directly related with his prescheduled visit. The President is coming to attend two functions; one is a Central Government programme and the other is a convocation ceremony. The State Government is not in the picture as far as the President's programme is concerned.”
Alarm bells are also ringing in the BJP over plans of a section of the JD(U) to tie up with the Congress ahead of the lok Sabha polls. JD(U) MP Shivanand Tiwari's demand for the same have also added fuel to the fire of speculation.
“According to my sources, an announcement to this effect would take place before November 22. On that day, the CBI has to file its report to the Jharkhand High Court on Nitish's alleged role in the fodder scam. With the help of the CBI, the Congress has got another ally in the net,” Hussain said.
The BJP leader taunted the JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav saying he feels sympathetic towards the “torchbearer” of anti-Congressism who has been critical of the UPA Government on issues of governance and corruption.