Nitish Kumar (top) and Narendra Modi

New Delhi, June 20: The crisis in Bihar’s ruling alliance seems to be fast rolling towards the brink with peacekeepers in both camps temporarily shunted to the sidelines of the raging war between chief minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP’s insistent mascot Narendra Modi.

There may yet be a possibility of preventing bitter rupture, but that will have to be on Nitish’s terms: the BJP should make Bihar out of bounds for Modi and behave like an “obedient junior partner” in the state.

Following Nitish’s decision to reject a Rs 5-crore cheque sent — and advertised — by Modi as relief for the Kosi flood victims, top BJP ministers in the Bihar government came under pressure today to pull out of the “vishwas yatra”, Nitish’s pilot pre-election campaign.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Modi, considered a confidant of Nitish’s, was directed not join Nitish’s public meeting at Paliganj, and, later in the day, a similar event in Patna city, the seat of health minister and BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, had to be scrapped.

Ironically, the trouble brewing in Bihar has barely any local ingredients. Most state BJP leaders enjoy a comfortable compact with Nitish but find themselves looped into a battle whose roots lie in Gujarat.

Party leaders said the BJP had to “respond in some manner to express disapproval” of the way Modi had been “repeatedly insulted” by Nitish. Top Janata Dal (United) ranks in Patna maintained Nitish saw Modi as a “provocative threat” to the survival of the socio-political alliance the chief minister has nursed. In other words, Modi’s presence in Bihar remains a red rag to the Muslim votebase the Dal (United) has painstakingly built.

Officially, neither the Dal (United) nor the BJP was willing to label today’s escalation as inauguration of last rites, but clearly the alliance is in who-blinks-first mode with many on either side willing to dare the other.

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha called Nitish’s decision to return Modi’s relief cheque “childish” and said: “Nitish Kumar seems to have decided he does not want to stay with the BJP, he should say so openly.”

Dal (United) spokesperson Shivanand Tiwary was quick to respond. “It is the BJP leadership which has decided to destabilise this alliance with moves that are now well-known. It has been very clear all the time that we do not want Narendra Modi in Bihar, we think he is detrimental to the alliance, but if the BJP believes otherwise, it is something they have to decide on.”

Each side is drawing the line but neither appears prepared to bear the responsibility for ending the alliance.

Nitish has his eyes set on Assembly elections later this year, and many in his camp believe Modi is out to upset his applecart en route to his own long-term ambitions.

“This is Narendra Modi testing the field for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls,” said a senior Dal (United) leader close to Nitish, “he does not want Nitish as a competitor on the national stage. Besides, by pushing Nitish to the limits, Narendra Modi might also be testing out his future friends and foes in the NDA.”

Top Dal (United) sources in Patna told The Telegraph Nitish had been “disappointed” with the manner in which the BJP leadership has decided to deal with the row over Modi.

“They know the chief minister’s views on the matter but none of the top leadership have bothered to get in touch with him even to discuss the matter, much less resolve it,” said a Dal (United) leader. “Narendra Modi seems to have the blessings of senior leaders like (L.K.) Advani in whatever he does. But in Bihar, we are the senior partners and we have a problem with Narendra Modi.”

Asked if Nitish was prepared to do a Navin Patnaik and make a clean election-eve break with the BJP, Dal (United) sources admitted it would be easier said than done. Caste equations in Bihar are far more complex and fickle. Besides, Patnaik did not have an opponent of the guile and prowess of Lalu Prasad waiting on the sidelines for an opportunity to make a grab at power.

“We ideally want this alliance to continue but it will have to run on the terms it has run so far, not how Narendra Modi wants to twist it to his own purposes. If Narendra Modi is imposed upon Bihar, we will have no option but go our own way,” a source said.

The BJP has its own set of dilemmas to negotiate. When the newly appointed Bihar BJP chief, C.P. Thakur, arrives here tomorrow to discuss the unravelling alliance, party bosses might find themselves confronted with internal rift much before they turn their eyes on Nitish or the Dal (United).

The Bihar BJP remains overwhelmingly pro-alliance and wants it retained at any cost. But whatever their private views, officially the BJP will find it difficult to swallow Nitish’s public slights and reconcile itself to the role of a spanked junior ally.

Besides, there is Modi. The jury is out on whether the leadership can summon the gut to tell him Bihar is out of bounds for him, at least until the elections.