Patna, April 23: A day after the BJP questioned a regional outfit’s “locus standi” to dictate terms to national parties having a far bigger vote share, Nitish Kumar returned the fire and asserted that he would not compromise on “certain basic principles” enunciated at the JD(U)’s national executive in New Delhi.
BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy had on Monday termed “unfortunate” the recent tendency of regional parties with barely 1.2 to two per cent vote share to dictate terms to the BJP, which had over 22 per cent of the pie. At a function to celebrate freedom fighter Veer Kuer Singh’s victory over the British in the First War of Independence, some BJP leaders, including Nitish’s cabinet colleagues, also decried the JD(U)’s emphasis on Biharipan (pride in being from Bihar) over nationalism.
The chief minister used a similar function at the same venue today to furnish a point-by-point rebuttal of his ally’s charges.
“It is not important that we are a regional party. How many votes we share at the national level, too, isn’t important. What is important is the political vision and philosophy we pursue,” Nitish said. “We adhere to the idea of inclusive growth with justice, social and communal harmony and preferential treatment to the marginalised and backward people.”
The JD(U) function to mark the anniversary of Veer Kuer Singh’s victory over the British was sober when compared to the one the BJP had organised. The crowd composition was, by and large, similar. Upper caste Rajputs drawn from Patna and neighbouring Bhojpur district (Kuer Singh was the Raja of Jadishpur in Bhojpur) dominated the crowd.
Sticking to his guns, Nitish said he had not said anything objectionable at his party’s national executive meet. “I praised Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s way of governing the nation. I also furnished the example of how the JD(U)-BJP alliance, working on the idea of mutual respect, was doing well in Bihar. I talked about the workability of the secular and inclusive ethos in the country with so much multiplicity and diversity,” he said.
Nitish made it clear he would not yield a wee bit on his position on the prime ministerial candidature. His party leaders ridiculed the BJP for decrying the JD(U) on its assertion of Biharipan. “Unless you have grasped regional issues, you cannot truly address national issues,” state JD(U) chief Basishtha Narayan Singh said.
“The party will not compromise on the issue of secularism and growth with justice,” he further said. Nitish supplemented Basishtha by saying, “Bihar has emphatically asserted itself for earning the special category status. The people of the state are gearing up to use the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to realise their haq (right).”
The BJP’s show yesterday and the JD(U)’s today were similar in one aspect. The two alliance partners — currently locked in a battle over the prime ministerial candidate — had used Kuer Singh to showcase their strength among upper caste Rajputs.
Like the BJP, the JD(U) got its Rajput ministers, MLAs and MPs to adorn the dais. The MPs, Meena Singh and Putul Singh, agriculture minister Narendra Singh and Rajput legislators Neeraj Kumar, Jaikumar Singh and Sanjay Singh were those in attendance today
