Cracks widen as BJP slams Nitish

The BJP and JD(U) in Bihar’s NDA government on Sunday began drifting towards the brink of separation as two senior BJP ministers defiantly stayed away from the Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar’s public programmes in symbolic protest against his rebuff to the BJP icon, Mr Narendra Modi.

The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Modi, and health minister Mr Nand Kishore Yadav, both of the BJP, refused to participate in Mr Kumar’s ongoing Vishwas Yatra statewide tour a day after the state government controversially returned Rs 5 crores in flood relief aid from the Gujarat government in a unilateral decision without the state BJP’s knowledge.

In Ranchi, meanwhile, the senior BJP leader, Mr Yashwant Sinha, accused Mr Kumar of doing a “childish act”, and went on to add that if the Chief Minister did not want to continue his alliance with the BJP, “let him clearly announce it”.

Saying he failed to understand the logic of returning the Gujarat government’s relief aid, Mr Sinha added: “There is no use of doing this drama.”

The BJP’s central leadership is scheduled to meet in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the party’s differences with the JD(U), where some of its senior Bihar leaders are also likely to be present.

Senior politicians Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, meanwhile, in a swipe at their BJP-JD(U) rivals, described Mr Kumar’s move to return flood relief aid to Mr Modi as a “political drama” and dared the saffron party to cut off ties “if it has any self-esteem left.”

In Patna, a pre-scheduled public meeting on Sunday evening where both Mr Kumar and Mr Nand Kishore Yadav were to speak had to be cancelled.