Ahmedabad: The BJP today invited Gujarat
Chief Minister Narendra Modi to campaign in Bihar, a move that
is sure to be a red rag to the JD(U) and may revive a bitter
clash between the two coalition partners ahead of Assembly
elections.
"Modiji, please come to Bihar. You may campaign and
hold the BJP flag high," BJP General Secretary and in-charge
of the party in Bihar, Ananth Kumar told a meeting of the
party's Gujarat Executive here.
He said the BJP national president has sent him as he
was in charge of the party in Bihar.
"I feel from the bottom of my heart that it may be
Bangalore, Benaras or Ballia- Bharat or Bihar. We invite him
to come to campaign. He is our leader," he said to a
thunderous applause from the party leaders. Modi and other
senior leaders including Arun Jaitley were seated on the dais.
JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari reacted sharply to
Kumar's statement saying why the BJP was being "adamant" on
calling Modi for campaign.
"The BJP wants to rule the whole of India. The days of
one party rule is gone. Coalition is the rule of the day.
Why is BJP adamant. Why is it creating a scene in Bihar," he
said.
Only last month, Nitish Kumar snubbed the BJP by
cancelling a dinner for its top leadership in Patna when they
were there for a meeting of the National Executive after a
couple of advertisements were published in local dailies
showing Modi and Nitish Kumar holding their hands together.
Nitish Kumar also returned Rs. 5 crore being the
unspent money of the aid given by the Gujarat government in
2008 to Bihar at the time of Kosi floods.
The joint campaign by Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief
Minister Sushil Modi was also called off in the wake of the
spat but later it was decided to be resumed.
PTI
First Published: Friday, July 02, 2010, 18:03