JD(U) prepares to walk out of NDA,Advani dials Nitish and Sharad

While the BJP reacted cautiously to the developments in the JD(U) and adopted a wait-and-watch stance,Advani,who is the working chairman of the NDA,was learnt to have spoken to NDA convenor and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and Kumar and appealed to them not to walk out of the alliance.

Advani also called Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal,another senior NDA member,and is learnt to have asked him to speak to Kumar and urge him not to quit the NDA.

Yadav told reporters in Delhi that as of now,“we are in the NDA”. However,“a new situation has emerged in Bihar and we need to discuss our relationship with the BJP within our party.”

At the same time,he seemed to be keeping a window open for reconciliation. “An alliance is forged with a great deal of difficulty,” he said,implying that it was easier to end it than put it together. He also sought to blame the strains in the alliance on the BJP.

“It is the responsibility of the bigger partner to take everybody along by working through a consensus,” Yadav said.

In Bihar,however,there is a growing feeling in the JD(U) that the split should not be delayed as it would create confusion among people,especially Muslims,and give Lalu Yadav’s RJD an opportunity to score over the JD(U). Party sources said the JD(U) is beginning to feel that it should seize the moment and win over the minorities.

The party had earlier considered timing the split with Modi’s proposed Patna visit in October to attend the BJP’s Hunkar rally.

Kumar is said to be coming under pressure from the party with over a dozen senior leaders calling on him in the last two days and asking him to show some urgency to end the alliance with the BJP and not wait for any compromise formula.

The JD(U) has also alerted all its 118 legislators to be in or around Patna by June 14 and has started talks with independent MLAs to get a simple majority of 122 in the house of 243. The JD(U) is said to prefer the support of the independents over the backing of the four Congress MLAs. The BJP has 91 MLAs.

While Kumar has been restrained while speaking about the alliance,senior JD(U) leaders have launched an offensive against the BJP,giving enough hints of an imminent split.

“Our party has almost taken a decision. The party will formally meet soon before any announcement is made. We cannot tolerate Narendra Modi,who cannot get over his image of the Godhra riots,” said Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh.

Water Resources Minister Bijay Kumar Choudhary,a Nitish confidante,said the CM had already talked of discussing party strategy in the new political situation.

“We were told by the CM to get ready for any situation and start preparing for elections. The hint can be good enough,” said Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar,one of the leaders who met Kumar.

He said the CM had met some leaders and talked to several others over the phone to gauge the majority opinion on the timing of the split. Kumar is learnt to have found that the majority viewed Modi being made the BJP campaign panel chief was as good as projecting him the PM candidate.

BJP leaders,however,sought to strike a note of caution,stressing that Bihar had voted for the NDA and suggested that the alliance was in the best interests of the state.

“10.5 crore people and 21 crore eyes of Bihar are looking at this alliance with hope. The voters of Bihar had not voted for any one party or leader but for the JD(U)-BJP alliance,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said in Delhi.

Hussain also said that unity was strength and the division would only harm voters who voted them to power. “If we remain together,we can hold power and serve the people,but we will be doing disservice to the people if we part ways,” he said. – With inputs from ENS,Delhi