Patna, June 16: Political observers called them Ram aur Laxman when the NDA assumed power in Bihar in 2005.

“They were the Siamese twins complementing each other, Nitish Kumar as chief minister and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi as finance minister of the state.

However, on Sunday, even as BJP national president Rajnath Singh in Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium roared what he had done to make the JD(U) break its alliance, Sushil Kumar Modi left no punches. “Nitishji has betrayed the people of Bihar. The people of Bihar will give a reply in the Lok Sabha,” Modi said. The BJP has given a call to observe June 18 as Betrayal Day.

The mood was sombre in the BJP camp as “sacked ministers” trooped inside the state office around 4pm. “It was the first time I received a paper summoning me to attend a cabinet meeting on a Sunday at 10.30am,” recalled former minister Nand Kishore Yadav. Former co-operative minister Ramadhar Singh said he would sacrifice his life for the party. “Losing a ministry is a small thing,” he said bravely.

What made things more irritating is the sound of firecrackers coming from the JD(U) office barely 100 metres away. The hostility of the former rivals was seen at the airport where there was a mild scuffle between BJP supporters and supporters of agriculture minister Narendra Singh.

The BJP has already started to play the OBC card. “Narendra Modi comes from a poor family belonging to an extremely backward caste and the issue on which JD(U) has decided to withdraw from the NDA fold. It is not an issue of communal issue,” Sushil said, charging Nitish of playing the politics of convenience.

While the mood of the BJP former ministers was sombre, the party workers appeared happy. At the news of the alliance break-up, the BJP workers were seen singing and dancing. The workers raised slogans in support of Narendra Modi and also smeared gulal on each other. Dipak Agarwal, a party worker, said: “The day is great for BJP workers. We are feeling a new breath of life.”

“During our tie-up with JD(U), we managed to make our presence felt in rural parts of Bihar and among the EBCs. Now, it just needs Narendra Modi to give us time,” said a senior BJP leader.