Though the entire political circle was agog with speculation over the JD(U) sending a strong signal to the BJP on the early announcement of the name of the prime ministerial nominee, the party emphasised more on keeping the NDA intact and avoided queering the pitch for the State’s NDA Government which is running very successfully for the last more than seven years.
Newly appointed BJP vice-president CP Thakur said that he has full confidence that Nitish Kumar will ultimately accept Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. He said that JD(U)’s decision to give some more time to the BJP for deciding its prime ministerial candidate is in the right direction, remarking that political parties should understand the popular public mood and act accordingly.
Senior BJP leader and State Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh has welcomed the decision of the JD(U) to wait for some time before the BJP decides its prime ministerial candidate.
RJD chief lalu Prasad told mediapersons in Patna that any discussion on secularism by Nitish Kumar is “ridiculous and absurd”. “Nitish should explain who is secular in the BJP or the RSS,” he commented.
The opposition to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is only an eyewash, the RJD chief added. RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav also took a dig at Nitish by asking why the Chief Minister is still undecided when majority of the BJP leaders want to project Narendra Modi as the PM choice.
lJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan said that both the BJP and JD(U) will never break their alliance, claiming that leaders of both parties are “enacting drama” by making public statements against each other.
“Nitish Kumar understands his limitations very well and hence he cannot afford to break his ties with the BJP,” he added.
Bihar Congress legislative Party leader Sadanand Singh said that the announcement of the name of the prime ministerial candidate is an “internal matter” of the BJP and the JD(U), finding no convincing reasons for himself to articulate on the matter.
“It is up to them whether they want to keep their alliance or break it but the Congress has nothing to do with it,” he added.
Though both the BJP and JD (U) are opposite to each other as far as principles and philosophies of both parties are concerned, they will continue to keep their alliance intact till it serves their mutual interests, Singh remarked.