Patna: Bihar's BJP chief has said that his party will contest all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, putting it in direct competition with its ally in the state, the Janata Dal (United). The BJP is the junior partner with the JD(U) in the state, with Nitish Kumar as the chief minister.
This was confirmed by Bihar BJP president C.P. Thakur, who made a detailed presentation to the top leadership of the party at the Surajkund meeting last week. He said this was done in view of growing uneasiness with alliance with the JD(U). "As a political party it's imperative to be ready to contest all the 40 seats," Mr Thakur said in Patna today.
Though Mr Kumar has successfully led the alliance government quite smoothly, in recent times there have been several rough patches. The most critical flashpoint is the possibility of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi being projected as a possible prime ministerial candidate in the next election. Mr Kumar has clearly said that the JD(U) will not accept this, since he is targetting the Muslim vote to keep his party in power.
Mr Kumar has himself been projected as a possible PM candidate, not just by his own party, but also by Sushil Modi, Bihar's deputy chief minister, who is from the BJP.
He had also said last month that he was willing to support anyone who will give Bihar special financial aid. This was interpreted as Mr Kumar's willingness to partner with a non-BJP party so long as the aid was promised to his state.
In another sign of the growing distance between the two parties, a BJP MLA on Sunday organised a rally of his own to highlight what he called corruption at the grassroots level in Bihar.
Though the MLA, Uday Singh from Purnea, will be cautioned by the BJP, Mr Thakur said, it does point to differences within the alliance.
Analysts say that the BJP's announcement of contesting all the Lok Sabha seats will not only widen the differences, but also confuse party workers on both sides, since the alliance at the state level is continuing.
This was confirmed by Bihar BJP president C.P. Thakur, who made a detailed presentation to the top leadership of the party at the Surajkund meeting last week. He said this was done in view of growing uneasiness with alliance with the JD(U). "As a political party it's imperative to be ready to contest all the 40 seats," Mr Thakur said in Patna today.
Though Mr Kumar has successfully led the alliance government quite smoothly, in recent times there have been several rough patches. The most critical flashpoint is the possibility of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi being projected as a possible prime ministerial candidate in the next election. Mr Kumar has clearly said that the JD(U) will not accept this, since he is targetting the Muslim vote to keep his party in power.
Mr Kumar has himself been projected as a possible PM candidate, not just by his own party, but also by Sushil Modi, Bihar's deputy chief minister, who is from the BJP.
He had also said last month that he was willing to support anyone who will give Bihar special financial aid. This was interpreted as Mr Kumar's willingness to partner with a non-BJP party so long as the aid was promised to his state.
In another sign of the growing distance between the two parties, a BJP MLA on Sunday organised a rally of his own to highlight what he called corruption at the grassroots level in Bihar.
Though the MLA, Uday Singh from Purnea, will be cautioned by the BJP, Mr Thakur said, it does point to differences within the alliance.
Analysts say that the BJP's announcement of contesting all the Lok Sabha seats will not only widen the differences, but also confuse party workers on both sides, since the alliance at the state level is continuing.
No comments:
Post a Comment