Sushil Kumar Modi at his janata darbar in Patna on Tuesday; (below) Narendra Modi. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, June 12: Amid the verbal volleys flying between Patna and Gandhinagar, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today firmly stood behind Narendra Modi, asserting that the Gujarat chief minister had stated “nothing wrong” in Bihar’s context.

“There is nothing wrong in what Modiji (Narendra) has said. His (Modi’s) words at a party meeting were directed against Lalu Prasad who indulged in caste politics at the cost of the state’s development,” Sushil Modi said. He was replying to a query related to the Gujarat chief minister’s utterances that prompted Nitish to tell Narendra Modi to “mind his business”.

The war of words was sparked on Sunday when the Gujarat chief minister, speaking at a BJP meeting in Rajkot, blamed “casteist leaders” for Bihar’s backwardness. Yesterday, Nitish reacted by equating Narendra Modi with a “chalni (sieve)” that is full of holes.

However, Sushil Modi, Nitish’s deputy who was hardly known for siding with Narendra Modi, today sounded at variance with his chief minister. “I have the CD and have heard the whole speech that (Narendra) Modiji made. He spoke against the bane of caste politics with which Lalu and his likes were identified. The NDA government in Bihar has kept the agenda of development ahead of caste,” he said.

Sushil Modi pointed out that the 11 per cent average growth rate clocked by Bihar was testimony to the fact that the Nitish-led NDA regime had pursued the agenda of development divorced of caste politics.

He added that the Gujarat chief minister was warning his party cadre against the vices of caste politics. Narendra Modi’s rival, Keshubhai Patel, has reportedly been “organising” Patels against the chief minister.

What may have led Sushil Modi, believed to be close to Nitish, to defend Narendra Modi is his and his party’s strategy to “play safe” on the western chief minister, particularly after perception gaining ground that he was fast emerging as the BJP’s national face.

Bihar BJP leaders said Nitish’s diatribe yesterday was an indicator that the wobbly alliance was still on the edge. “The way Nitish, Sharad Yadav and state JD(U) chief Basishtha Narayan Singh ridiculed the Gujarat CM following his casteist references made it clear that the Bihar chief minister is making up his mind to break the alliance,” a senior BJP leader said. “We are in the BJP. We can’t go against a leader of our own rank to the extent Nitish or other allies can go.”

Not very long ago, Sushil Modi had made a veiled attack on Narendra Modi by criticising the ouster of the party general secretary, Sanjay Joshi, from the BJP. Joshi, an RSS point man, had been shown the door at the Gujarat chief minister’s behest. Sources said some senior national leaders had then advised Sushil Modi not to go “overboard” on Narendra Modi whose political stature is fast growing in the party.