Patna : JD-U may sever ties with BJP after Modi’s elevation

TNN

PATNA, June 12, 2013 : 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 ofGujarat CM NarendraModi as the saffron party’s campaign committee chairman. They felt it was only a matter of time before Modi was projected as the PM-candidate of the BJP.

 

 

On Tuesday, Nitish declined to say anything more on the issue, and he is proceeding to Katihar on Wednesdaywhere he will camp for two days in course of last leg of the current round of his Seva Yatra. But political circles were rife with speculation when the time (for break-up of ties between the two parties) will come.

The JD-U leaders, off the record, were of the opinion that following the crucial developments in BJP, the JD-U was left with no option but to break away. A minister 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.

State NDA convener and minister of road construction Nand Kishore Yadav said, "They (JD-U) have to take decision whether to stay in NDA or not. We (BJP) come in the picture later on."

"We have our own way and we are neither going to change our known stand nor dilute the issue," said water resources minister Vijay KumarChoudhary and added that alliance works on mutual understanding and any violation or breach becomes a matter of concern.

Most JD-U ministers told TOI on Tuesday that the Modi issue was a matter of real concern. Sources said a high-level meeting of the party will be held soon to chart out its future course of action. "The meeting and the decision can take place any time," one senior minister said.

The party is also weighing the future of the government led by Nitish Kumar once the BJP withdraws support. In the present assembly, the JD-U has a strength of 120. "We will need the outside support of only three MLAs for the continuance of the government," the minister said. He was also of the view that no MLA of any party would want dissolution of the assembly since the assembly is left with half of its term.