BJP, JD(U) still split over Modi’s poll role

The statement by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would campaign in the Bihar assembly elections set off a fresh row between the party and its ally in Bihar, Janata Dal (U).

While a section of the JD(U), led by the party’s Rajya Sabha member Shivanand Tiwari, is demanding a review of the ties, the BJP asked the JD(U) leadership to stop Tiwari and others from issuing threats.

Tiwari told reporters on Monday that he would request the party leadership to reconsider the alliance and contest the elections — to be held in six phases in October-November — on its own in the wake of the BJP move to field Modi in Bihar.

“Instead of talking through the media, Tiwari should have spoken to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar directly and advised him to sever JD(U)’s ties with the BJP,” cooperative minister and state BJP leader Giriraj Singh said on Tuesday.

Though Tiwari refused to speak further on the issue on Tuesday, another JD(U) leader and member of Parliament from Begusarai, Monazir Hussain, said, “We had got a good result in the Lok Sabha elections without the Gujarat Chief Minister.”

He said, “I totally agree with him (Tiwari). In fact, most party MPs hold the same view, but are afraid to air it.” Earlier, Hussain got into a controversy by opposing Modi’s name featuring in the slogans raised during the National Democratic Alliance’s all-India shutdown. JD(U) is a constituent of the NDA.

JD(U) sources, however, said the BJP was hardening its stance before the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Babri mosque issue due on September 24.

“Anything can happen but a ground is being prepared,” said a JD(U) leader on condition of anonymity. On the possibility of breaking ties with the BJP, state JD (U) chief Vijay Kumar Chowdhary said, “We will stand by the verdict of the court and nothing beyond that.”