Nitin Navin. Telegraph picture

Patna, Oct. 4: Best friends often turn bitter foes in politics. The JD(U)’s bid to find a foothold in the Patna urban area may see the party get into a friendly fight with its poll partner BJP in the Digha Assembly seat.

The JD(U) national general secretary and spokesperson, Shivanand Tiwari, told The Telegraph today: “JD(U) has every right to seek a foothold in the Patna urban area. The NDA government has done a lot of good work for the state, including the state capital, under the leadership of chief minister Nitish Kumar. This will be a major reason on which we will seek votes for the JD (U) candidate in Digha.”

The BJP leadership is divided on the JD (U)’s demand for the seat, its stronghold over the years. A BJP insider said: “A section of party leaders believes the seat should be given to the JD (U) in the larger interest of the society. Another section maintains that the seat is a stronghold of the BJP and should not be given to the JD (U) even if it leads to a friendly contest with its ally.”

The BJP president Nitin Gadkari held several rounds of meetings with senior party leaders in Delhi in the past two days.

The party’s state in-charge Anant Kumar and co-in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan were present at the meeting. But a final decision is still awaited. Another BJP leader said Gadkari had already made up his mind. A friendly contest between the alliance partners looks imminent in the Digha seat, the leader said.

The BJP candidates increased their margin of victory in successive elections in Digha. The margin of 5,500 votes in the 1995 elections surged to 86,000 in the November, 2005 elections. Nitin Navin won the April 2006 bypoll election after the death of his father, the then Patna West MLA Navin Sinha, by 68,000 votes despite the voting percentage being only 17 per cent.

But the JD (U) seems to be in no mood to give importance to the supremacy of the BJP in the seat. Tiwari said: “The BJP candidates had contested the seat under the NDA banner except in the 1995 Assembly polls. BJP cannot alone take the credit for its successive victories.” Tiwari refused to comment when asked what would be the JD (U)’s stand in case the BJP turns down its demand for the Digha seat.