BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain (right) at the news meet in Patna on Saturday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, April 27: Playing down his party’s alleged spat with alliance partner the JD(U), Shahnawaz Hussain, the BJP national spokesperson, today said the coalition would survive in the larger interest of the people of Bihar.

He stressed that there was no threat to the alliance in the state or immediate dispute between the allies. “Ours is an old coalition that would continue in the larger interest of the people of Bihar,” he said.

Addressing a news meet at the party office in Patna this afternoon, Hussain described the JD(U) as an old coalition partner, which entered in an alliance with the BJP when it was considered a political pariah (untouchable) in the wake of the Babri Masjid agitation.

He told mediapersons: “Over 10 crore people in Bihar have given the alliance the mandate to run the government. Any initiative to weaken the alliance would be tantamount to disgracing the people’s mandate.”

The alliance, he stressed, was not just confined to issues concerning Bihar and expressed confidence that the JD(U) would support the BJP to form a government at the Centre.

However, when it came to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi being projected as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate — the point of dispute with Nitish Kumar — Hussain said the BJP’s parliamentary board would decide at the appropriate time.

Taking a dig at the Congress, the Bhagalpur MP said the party’s future could be gauged from the fact that nobody was talking about its prime ministerial candidate.

Lalu flays Nitish

RJD chief Lalu Prasad said Nitish Kumar’s opposition to Narendra Modi was merely an “eye wash”.

Speaking at a rally in Madhepura today, Lalu said: “Nitish, Modi and BJP are integrally one...Nitish is making fool of people by making public statements against Modi.”