Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United on Sunday delivered its second snub in as many days to alliance partner BJP, which has accused police and local administrations of "bias" against the majority community in handling of cases related to the recent communal flare-ups in at least eight Bihar districts.
A BJP delegation had on Friday submitted a memorandum to director-general of police (DGP) K.S. Dwivedi articulating the allegations.
"The BJP should not have raised this issue with an officer," JDU secretary general K.C. Tyagi told The Telegraph on Sunday. "We are running a coalition government and BJP ministers are there in it. The issue could have been raised at the NDA forum."
He refused to take further questions.
On Saturday, two JDU leaders, parliamentary affairs minister Shravan Kumar and industries minister Jai Kumar Singh, had virtually dismissed the BJP's allegations and said that the Nitish Kumar government does not look at the religion of law-breakers.
BJP leaders refused to react on record to Tyagi's comment, but insisted that "all is well" in the alliance.
"We have nothing to say on this issue. The JDU and the BJP are NDA constituents," said a senior BJP functionary.
Another senior BJP leader was more forthcoming: "It had been decided that some of our party leaders would submit the memorandum to the DGP but it was not to be shared with media. Some over-enthusiastic party leaders and workers shared it with media, leading to the confusion."
A middle-rung BJP leader, who too spoke under cover of anonymity, asked how Tyagi could say the issue should be raised at the alliance forum.
"Did Nitish Kumar even bother to call an NDA legislature party meeting during the month-long budget session of the legislature? Where would an NDA leader or a worker go when there is no NDA forum to discuss such things?" the BJP leader asked.
Deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Modi on Sunday echoed what Nitish has been saying: That no communal riot had taken place in Bihar under NDA rule.
