Patna, June 15: The BJP ministers in Bihar are ready to quit the Nitish Kumar government as soon as an official announcement is made regarding a break-up of the 17-year-old alliance.
“The JD(U) should clear its stand. The statements coming from them are confusing. The BJP wants the coalition to be intact and strong. But if any of the senior leaders of the JD(U), such as Nitish Kumar, (JD-U president) Sharad Yadav or (state unit chief) Bashishtha Narayan Singh, declares the alliance is over, our ministers will resign from the government,” Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey said.
The BJP had earlier sent out signals that its ministers would not resign from the ministry and wanted Nitish to get them ousted so that the onus of the split could be thrust on the JD(U). When the rumblings began, the BJP ministers declared they would not quit.
The BJP has 11 members in the ministry, including deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
Top JD(U) leaders, including Nitish and Sharad, are expected to meet here tomorrow to take a call on the future of the alliance. Leaders of the JD(U), whose core committee met this morning, said the matter had reached a “point of no return”.
“We have been looking for a categorical assurance that Narendra Modi will not be the prime ministerial candidate in whatsoever situation, but that has not been forthcoming from them (BJP),” senior JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari said. “Let it be clear once and for all that the BJP has forced the JD(U) to walk out of the alliance by not being forthcoming on Modi’s future role.”
With the split looking imminent, state NDA convener Nand Kishore Yadav and Sushil Modi today refused to meet Nitish.
Sushil Modi, an old friend of Nitish, and Nand Kishore were invited by the chief minister for talks this morning. It is believed that Nitish wanted to discuss the modalities for the exit of the BJP ministers.
Nand Kishore, the road construction minister, said he told Nitish that “our national leaders, including party president Rajnath Singh, L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Nitin Gadkari, have been talking to you and Sharad Yadav on larger political issues, including the PM nominee... the subject does not fall in our jurisdiction, hence there is no point meeting.”
The bickering allies are doing what married couples do when their marriage has gone sour but have to keep up the pretence till the end.
The education department yesterday rescinded a decision denying permission to the BJP to hold a rally of party president Rajnath at the Miller School ground. But a miffed BJP is taking no chances and has shifted the venue for the June 23 rally to the Sanjay Gandhi Stadium in Gardanibagh. In Delhi, the Congress fished in choppy waters and opened the door to the JD(U), describing it as a “secular and like-minded party”.
“JD(U) is a like-minded party, which has faith in secularism. It is in alliance with a party with which its ideology does not match,” Congress spokesman Bhakta Charan Das said. His comments come on the heels of Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in Srinagar that any decision on inviting the JD(U) to join the UPA would be taken by senior Congress leaders.
