The Janata Dal (United) is set to say goodbye to the BJP anytime now. The nearly two-decade-old relationship between the two parties has reached a point of no return after the BJP’s decision to give a “national” role to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Sources privy to the fast-paced developments claim that the JD(U) might take the final call on parting ways with the BJP by Saturday, when the Bihar Chief Minister returns to Patna after spending two days at his ongoing Sewa Yatra.
Kumar is scheduled to hold a meeting with top leaders of his party in Patna on that day. “A decision would be taken at that meeting. The announcement could be made that day or after one or two days,” a top JD(U) leader said.
The development comes despite intervention by NDA working chairman lK Advani, who spoke to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav in the afternoon and also asked the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash
Singh Badal to convince Nitish Kumar not to break ties with the NDA.
The two leaders have apparently told Advani that “recent developments” have compelled them to rethink their ties with the BJP. The JD(U) is ready to take the risk of a breakup as it will not threaten the existence of the Nitish Kumar Government, which is just four short of majority without the BJP.
The party’s crisis managers have already approached Independent legislators, and three of them, Vinay Bihari, Manoj Jayaswal and Somprakash Singh, have gone public with their stand to support the Government in case of a crisis. Bihari and Jayaswal confirmed meeting Kumar’s close confidante RCP Sinha, a Rajya Sabha MP of the party.
The JD(U) has 119 MlAs in the 243-member State Assembly. Since one JD(U) MlA is not on the side of Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) will require the support of four members to reach the magic figure of 122 for survival of the Government.
There are 91 MlAS from the BJP, 21 from the RJD and one each from the lJP and CPI in the State Assembly. The JD(U) is also pinning its hopes on four Congress members, who might abstain from the State Assembly at the time of trial of strength.
Despite the JD(U)’s reservation to Modi’s ‘projection’ at the national level for obvious political reasons, the BJP had on Sunday nominated him as head of its Campaign Committee for the lok Sabha polls. The JD(U) initially refused to read much into the “internal matters” of the BJP, but “hardened” its position fearing a dent in its minority vote bank.
Kumar has remained tight-lipped on speculations about the break-up, but his close confidants took turns throughout the day to blast Modi. JD(U) MP Shivanand Tiwari termed Modi as a “divisive personality” and ridiculed his proposal to build the proposed ‘statue of unity’ in the memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. “Had Patel been alive in 2002, he would have caught Modi’s ears and thrown him out from the Chief Minister’s chair for the communal riots after Godhra,” Tiwari said.
Tiwari told The Pioneer that the JD(U) has no alternative other than breaking the alliance with the BJP. “We will not be able to show our faces before the people if we accept Modi as our leader when we have already opposed him so strongly on several occasions,” he commented.
JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi`s meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata and Nitish Kumar’s support to the BJD’s Swabhimaan Rally in New Delhi have only added fuel to the speculation that Kumar may consider deserting the NDA to try and form the Federal Front in the run up to the 2014 lok Sabha elections.
Even the BJP leaders have reconciled to the fact that Nitish Kumar was ready to walk out of the NDA. Top Bihar BJP leaders also held an emergency meeting at the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi in Patna.
State BJP President Mangal Pandey told reporters after the meeting that the State BJP was in favour of keeping the alliance intact as it came into existence on the strength of very hard work made for the purpose. “The BJP will make all efforts till the last minute to keep the BJP-JD(U) alliance intact in Bihar,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said: “10.5 crore people and 21 crore eyes of Bihar are looking at this alliance with hope. The voters of Bihar had not voted for any one party or leader but for the JD(U)-BJP alliance.”
He maintained that the continuation of this alliance will benefit the State and the parties should not betray the voters’ trust by breaking the tie-up.