Patna, April 16: Sushil Modi, the biggest ally of Nitish Kumar in the BJP, today lent his voice to the chorus of protests against the Bihar chief minister for his oblique but stinging attack on Narendra Modi that has rocked the NDA boat.
“The attack on (Shri) Narendra Modi at the JD(U)’s national executive meeting was unfortunate. Whatever happened at the JD(U) meet should not have happened,” Sushil Modi, deputy chief minister, who is considered the architect of the alliance with the JD(U), said on the sidelines of his weekly janata durbar at his residence here.
Reading out a written statement, Sushil Modi said: “The party’s core committee on Bihar and president Rajnath Singh will meet on April 18 to discuss the current political scenario. It is the parliamentary board that decides on the issue of alliances and as such it will take the right decision at the right time.”
BJP sources ascribed two broad explanations for the deputy chief minister issuing such a statement. “Sushil Modi, so far perceived to be a staunch pro-alliance leader, wished to dispel the impression that there was any disunity in the BJP in its stand against Nitish’s critique of Narendra Modi,” a source said.
Second, the source added, Sushil Modi — believed to be a key link between Nitish and the BJP high command — has made it clear that he would support with “uncluttered” loyalty any decision that the party took in context of the alliance with the JD(U). His statement was in conformity with what Nitish’s detractors in the state BJP — Giriraj Singh, Ashwini Choubey and C.P. Thakur — have said in their reaction to Nitish’s outburst.
Stressing that the BJP stood united, Sushil Modi said: “The BJP cadres and supporters across the country were hurt at what happened at the JD(U)’s conclave.”
The statement came soon after Sushil Modi shared the dais with Nitish at a function in the city.
If that picture offered a hope of unity, the chief minister soon dispelled it as he again took a dig at Narendra Modi, this time over the Godhra issue. BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi had suggested yesterday that Nitish should share the blame for the Gujarat riots as he was the railway minister at the time of the Godhra train fire that set off the Gujarat riots.
Nitish today said maintaining law and order was the state’s responsibility. “It was a law and order issue for which the state concerned had to deal with. The railway ministry would come into play only in the event of a rail accident or collision,” he said.
Nitish also scoffed at Lalu Prasad’s assertion that he should have resigned after the Gujarat riots if he was so concerned about his secular ideals. “Lalu Prasad is a loud mouth who speaks in hyperboles,” Nitish said.
JD(U) general secretary Shivanand Tiwary too attacked the BJP for “over-reacting” on Nitish’s stand on Narendra Modi. “There was nothing new in what Nitish stated. It is known to the BJP for the last four years that the JD(U) had reservations about Narendra Modi being projected as the PM candidate. We are unable to understand why the BJP leaders are reacting all of a sudden,” he said.
In spite of the verbal volleys, sources close to Sushil Modi said there was no immediate danger to the alliance as the BJP, being the biggest NDA partner, did not wish to be seen as a marriage-wrecker. “But party leaders and cadres, from Bihar to Delhi, would speak in one voice to counter Nitish’s direct or indirect barbs at Narendra Modi or any other leader,” said a Sushil Modi aide.
