New Delhi: A day after CM Nitish Kumar said the JD-U will soon decide on the issue of continuing its alliance with the BJP, most JD-U leaders were unanimous on Tuesday that time has come to bid adieu to the BJP following the anointment of CM of Gujarat Narendra Modi as the saffron party’s campaign committee chairman. The BJP may have just defused one crisis after party patriarch LK Advani agreed to withdraw his resignation, but now they could be headed straight into another.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a meeting with senior JD-U leaders on the issue, but refused to comment on the state of the alliance. Nitish Kumar cryptically stated, “Wait for some time.” Nitish Kumar declined to say anything more on the issue, and he is proceeding to Katihar on Wednesday where he will camp for two days in course of last leg of the current round of his Seva Yatra. However, other JD-U leaders were less than hopeful of the alliance in Bihar surviving.
A minister of JD-U said that after BJP chief Rajnath Singh’s assertion that Modi has been picked as the leader of the nation, there cannot be two opinions that he was not the prime ministerial face of the BJP. “We have to decide quickly,” he said.
Kumar is reported to have held talks with party president Sharad Yadav and other senior state JD-U leaders till late last night weighing the pros and cons of remaining in the alliance.
He also held talks with senior ministers in his cabinet like Bijendra Yadav, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Narendra Singh, Brishen Patel, Shayam Rajak and Rajya Sabha member and a close confidante R C P Singh.
State NDA convener and minister of road construction Nand Kishore Yadav said that JD-U have to take decision whether to stay in NDA or not. BJP come in the picture later on.
Meanwhile water resources minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said, “We have our own way and we are neither going to change our known stand nor dilute the issue.”
While talking with some ministers of JD-U over this issue, they said this matter was an issue of real concern. Sources said that very soon a meeting of high level of JD-U party will be held sooner to sort out the future course of action.
In present assembly of Bihar, JD-U has 118 MLAs in 243-member Bihar assembly and needs the support of only four more MLAs to reach the majority figure of 122. There are six independent MLAs in the house at present, BJP 91, RJD 22 and LJP and CPI one each. Some independent MLAs are also being contacted for enlisting support to the government in the event of BJP exiting the Nitish Kumar government.
Bureau Report
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