Patna, July 03: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will campaign for the BJP-JD(U) combine in Bihar, insists the BJP. Mere posturing or statement of intent?
Senior party leader Anant Kumar said while addressing a state executive committee meeting on Friday, “I have been in charge of the campaign in Bihar and have to ensure that the party emerges victorious in the state… JDU-BJP combine will sweep the election… and Narendra Modi will be an important part of the campaign.”
The emphatic statement that the BJP’s star campaigner will be no less important in these elections comes soon after the two Bihar partners arrived at an uneasy truce after days of being on the brink of a divorce.
The reason for the breakdown in relations was that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) has been carefully cultivating a secular image to make inroads into the substantial Muslim vote in the state. He is loath to be associated, months before the state elections, with Modi, who has a non-secular image.
Modi, not one to take a slight lying low, put pressure on his party to flex some muscle with its old ally. The BJP duly made clear to the JD(U) that there could be no conditions in the relationship.
After a week-long stand-off, matters did settle with both parties stating the alliance would go on. And though the BJP said overtly that it would not accept pre-conditions that Modi and others like Varun Gandhi would not campaign in Bihar, senior leaders seemed willing to tread a middle path.
Statements such as Ananth Kumar’s thus could well be more public posture to underscore that the BJP’s internal affairs are not dictated by allies.
From the JD(U) came a wary counter-statement. “There is no problem with the alliance, these are statements by BJP, not conditions… It seems they are trying to impose their ego, but that does not mean this is a condition in any way… A campaign committee will decide who will campaign in Bihar.”
The Bihar elections are due in October.
-Agencies