New Delhi: The BJP has finally made it loud and clear to the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. The party chief Nitin Gadkari on Sunday minced no words to state that Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi can be drafted for campaigning in Bihar for the Assembly elections and BJP alone will decide who it should depute.
He made it amply clear that his party would not be swayed by Nitish Kumar’s opposition to any such move. “Narendra Modi can go for campaigning. There is no problem. Varun Gandhi can also go. Whatever schedule is drawn up by the BJP unit in Bihar and whichever leader they will ask for will be sent,” he was quoted by the news agency PTI from New Delhi.
For this, “the decision will be that of the BJP alone and it will not be at the behest of any other party,” he said.
He described as “unfortunate” the decision of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to return Rs 5 crore sent by the Modi government in Gujarat for Kosi flood victims. This was money collected from the people of Gujarat and it was not the personnel money of Narendra Modi, he said.
Nitin Gadkari’s statement came after internal assessments made by the BJP and Janata Dal (United) that if both fight the assembly election separately the former will win 45 seats and the latter only 35. This has greatly reduced the bargaining position of Nitish Kumar, who till a week ago was flying high. Nitish’s visit to the house of the cabinet colleague, Ashwani Choubey, on Saturday is also being interpreted in this way.
The BJP insiders now say that the Janata Dal (United) is no more insisting on fighting more assembly seats than what they did in 2005. Last time the Janata Dal United contested 137 seats while the BJP 106. In the last Lok Sabha election the Janata Dal United forced the BJP to give up one parliamentary seat.
