New Delhi: BJP has formally conveyed to JD(U) that it will not accept conditions like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi not campaigning in Bihar during polls.
Reports that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar does not want Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi to campaign in the state for assembly polls had created fresh strains in the JD(U)-BJP alliance with saffron party leaders asserting that they cannot be dictated to.
Adding to the strain, Kumar had even sent a Bihar police team to to Surat to inquire into the advertisements put out in Patna newspapers about Gujarat government's Kosi flood relief aid to Bihar but recalled it after the step drew angry reaction from BJP.
Yesterday, as leaders of the core group of BJP's Bihar unit met party president Nitin Gadkari, four ministers of the party attended a Cabinet meeting chaired by Kumar in a sign that things have not reached a breaking point.
The BJP top brass reviewed its ties with the JD(U) with party leaders from Bihar in the backdrop of senior leader L K Advani being not in favour of the alliance falling apart.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Modi, who called off a joint appearance with Kumar for the 'Biswas Yatra' on Sunday, met Advani. He was accompanied by party Chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad, who also hails from Bihar.
Kumar, who triggered a row with BJP by returning to Gujarat government its Rs. 5 crore relief for the Kosi flood victims, is reported to have told BJP that the alliance can continue only if BJP agrees not to field Narendra Modi and Varun Gandi in the election campaign for Bihar polls expected in October this year.
There was no official word from the JD(U) but leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there would be no compromise on this issue and that the party had no qualms in going it alone if BJP remained adamant.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 14:26