NEW DELHi, APRIL 26:The BJP is contemplating a course correction in Bihar where its deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has come under fire from his own party MLAs. The party in-charge of Bihar, Kalraj Mishra, submitted his report to party president Rajnath Singh here on Friday. “There does exist discontent (against Modi) in the state BJP. I have apprised the leadership of the ground situation after meeting some 65 party legislators there. They will take a call on the next step,” Mishra told The Sunday Express.

Modi, perceived to be “too close” to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by his detractors, spent most of Friday in town, meeting LK Advani and Rajnath Singh. “I have nothing more to add to what the prabhari (in-charge) has already said in Patna,” said Modi, when asked about the discontent. Mishra had ruled out any change in the leadership while interacting with the media in Patna on Thursday.

Several Modi detractors, too, were canvassing for support in Delhi on Friday. Bihar minister and a challenger to Modi, Nand Kishore Yadav, met Rajnath while former state party president Gopal Narayan Singh called on party general secretary Arun Jaitley. Legislator Rameshwar Prasad Chaurasia, and a couple of other MLAs, too, were camping in town. “Rajnathji wants us to adopt a middle path, but I wonder if such an option exists now,” said a state leader, who spoke to Rajnath on Friday.

Alarmed at this open defiance, the party is said to be exploring several options. “The rebels want nothing short of Modi’s head. An alternative option could, however, be the removal of state BJP president Radha Mohan Singh, a close Modi supporter. Grievances of the displaced ministers in the recent Cabinet reshuffle could be looked into. A core committee, comprising key members of the disenchanted legislators, too, could be constituted,” said a top leader engaged in the firefighting.

A Modi supporter, however, cautioned that any alternative arrangement would be “unstable”. “A handful of leaders, aggrieved over the ministerial reshuffle, cannot hold the party leadership to ransom. This is not how the BJP is run,” he added.

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