New Delhi, June 22: Playing down reports that Nitish Kumar wants Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi away from Bihar as a condition to continue with the alliance, the BJP on Tuesday claimed that no one has advised it over the issue.
Briefing reporters in the national capital, party spokesperson Shehnawaz Hussain said, “We have had no communication on the issue. BJP will decide who will campaign where. This is our issue, we have not asked for anybody’s advice.”
The clarification from the BJP came in view of media reports that JD (U) wants that Nitish be given a free hand in finalising the campaign strategy for the Assembly elections and that BJP should keep Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi out of Bihar and not rope them in for campaigning in the state during the upcoming Assembly elections.
Earlier, party chief Saharad Yadav one of the most vocal votary of continuing the alliance, although did not name anyone, but gave an indication about the line of thinking in the party, he said, “The coalition will decide as to who will campaign in Bihar.”
The BJP is trying to assert itself but is, clearly, in a catch-22 situation. On one hand it doesn’t want to let Bihar go the Orissa way but on the other it feels that its leaders have been humiliated by Nitish and that the party should not reduce itself to being a pushover.
A decision on the future of the alliance is expected to be taken at a meeting the BJP president is having with senior leaders from the state here Tuesday evening.
Among the leaders expected to attend the meeting with Gadkari are party MPs from the state Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy besides Hussain.
Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav and Public Health Engineering Department Minister Ashwani Kumar Chaubey are also expected to attend the meeting.
During their meeting with party chief Nitin Gadkari, the Bihar unit leaders are expected to vent their feeling of hurt over Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to return the Kosi flood relief money to the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat.
The sources said that any snapping of ties with the JD-U would spell trouble for both the partners as it could lead to imposition of President’s Rule in Bihar where Assembly polls are due later this year. It would also lead to fragmentation of the support base of the two parties, they added.
The differences between Nitish Kumar and the BJP boiled over June 12 after newspaper advertisements featuring him and Narendra Modi appeared in vernacular dailies in Bihar. A peeved Nitish Kumar on Saturday returned the Rs.5 crore given for flood relief by the Narendra Modi government.
-IANS