BJP message: As Nitish sits out,stands tall,lets Modi take a bow

The BJP made it loud and clear to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that it was no pushover

The BJP today made it loud and clear to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that it was no pushover. At the end of its two-day national executive which was overshadowed by tension with its ally JD(U) NDA chairman L K Advani signalled that the BJP would like to continue its association with the JD(U),a friend of 15 years,but it should not be taken for granted.

The party came out in strong support of Narendra Modi. While Advani subtly reminded Nitish that he should not have made a big issue out of the advertisement that appeared in newspapers featuring him and Modi,the Gujarat Chief Minister made a conscious attempt to drive home the point that Bihar and Gujarat have historical linkages,rebutting Nitishs contention that he was unwanted in Bihar.

And notwithstanding Nitishs outburst,Sunday again dawned to full-page advertisements in Patna newspapers projecting the all-round development of Gujarat.

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While Nitish himself kept quiet,JD(U) president Sharad Yadav,sensing the BJP mood,struck a reconciliatory note. Speaking to The Indian Express in Delhi to repair the damage caused to the ruling alliance in Bihar,he said: The issue is over. What was there yesterday has passed.

Ours is a very old alliance,

Yadav emphasised,while seeking to put to rest speculation that the JD(U) may break away from the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls to woo the 16 per cent Muslims of the state. However,he added that the objectionable Nitish-Modi ad had caused a lot of resentment within the JD(U). It ran counter to the maryada (norms) of the Bihar alliance… It was ill-timed, he regretted.

Addressing a rally at the end of the BJP national executive meet,Advani too recalled the BJPs 15-year-old association with Nitish starting with a chance meeting in 1995 in Mumbai and stressed that the latter had been a minister in the A B Vajpayee government for six years. It would have been nice had he attended and addressed this rally, he said. The friendship should not be allowed to disintegrate because of some minor reasons.

While noting that the BJP-JD(U) coalition government had come to power ending years of misrule and performed well,Advani said Nitish could not have done it without the support of the BJP. This fact should never be forgotten, he said. There can be minor disagreements in a coalition but not differences,he added.

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Disapproving Nitishs reaction over the advertisement featuring him with Modi following which the Bihar CM even cancelled a dinner he was to host for the visiting BJP leaders Advani said: I dont know how holding hands can lead to differences. Holding hands can bring love.

Sources in the BJP said there is a strong sense of anger in the party over Nitishs reaction. The feeling was palpable as none of the leaders who addressed Sundays rally mentioned the CM even once and chose to shower praises on Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP for the developmental initiatives taken by the Bihar government.

Earlier,speaking to reporters,BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: We are a mature party which has a mature leadership with resilience… We are showing maturity. For us,our self-respect is most important. We are not going to compromise on it.

A BJP minister from Bihar lashed out at Nitish,questioning how he had suddenly discovered that Modi was communal. How come he treats BJP as his friend but finds its icon Modi unacceptable? state Cooperative Minister Giriraj Singh told reporters. Kumar had never expressed his antipathy for Modi when he was a minister in the NDA government at the Centre.

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Modi was at his subtlest best. Without directly referring to the controversy or taking Nitishs name,he said Gujarat and Bihar shared a historical bond from Mahatma Gandhi,a Gujarati,launching his non-cooperation movement from Bihar to Jai Prakash Narain coming up with his total revolution slogan after a visit to Gujarat. He even read out a sentence in Bhojpuri and mentioned the help given by Bihar to Gujarat during the 2001 earthquake.

The message that he had every right to be in Bihar was not lost.

With inputs from ENS,Delhi