JD-U) president Sharad Yadav and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar wear traditional Assamese Japi during the party’s national ex

Playing hardball with the BJP, the JD(U) on Sunday set a yearend deadline for the saffron outfit to declare its PM candidate, while spelling out its clear preference for a leader with the attributes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for that high office. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, ruling himself out of the prime ministerial race, appeared to veto Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi’s ambition for the post by saying that “attempts for genetic modification at a time when a crop is in the pink of health will give negative results”.
In a bid to put to rest speculation about his chances for the prime ministership, Mr Kumar, speaking on the political resolution at the JD(U) national executive meeting, said: “I do not nurse any such illusion with such little strength of my party. I am aware of the fate of a few former Prime Ministers like H.D. Deve Gowda, Inder Kumar Gujral and Chandra Shekhar”.
The political resolution said that there being a tradition of declaring the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate, the BJP should announce its nominee by the end of the year as the general election was due in 2014. The JD(U) listed three conditions it said should be taken into account by the BJP: the candidate should have faith in the agreed-upon national agenda of governance; he/she should have an undoubted image for commitment to secularism and a multi-religious and multi-linguistic society; and should be sensitive to the needs of backward states.
At the same time, the JD(U) dropped enough hints to suggest that it would be comfortable with the leadership of BJP stalwart Lal Krishna Advani. Without mentioning the name of Mr Modi, the Bihar CM took potshots at his Gujarat counterpart by saying “nobody should think that the country can be run by force, as sometimes you will have to wear a cap, sometimes you will have to sport a tilak”.
Mr Modi had once famously refused to wear a skull cap offered by a Muslim cleric. Mr Kumar added: “Somebody could run one state in this or that manner, but it’s difficult to govern the whole country like that”.
This was a clear reference to Mr Vajpayee’s advice to Mr Modi to adhere to “Rajdharma” in the wake of the post-Godhra riots of 2002.
The BJP made its displeasure known, with spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman saying: “We reject all unfounded inferences against Mr Modi... It is unfortunate that allies are concentrating their energies on party chief ministers and diluting the focus on the battle to oust the UPA.”
A clearly-gleeful Congress, meanwhile, called upon the other NDA allies to take their cue from the JD(U) on the question of secularism.
The speeches on the JD(U) political resolution revolved around the Gujarat chief minister, though no speaker referred to Mr Modi by name. While Mr Kumar referred to the claims of “wave” surrounding leaders, he said: “This country is not run by such waves.”
Sharad Yadav, re-elected JD(U) president for a third consecutive term, also recalled that “in 2004, Atalji asked how I too could lose elections, (and) I told him ... you also know the reason”.
Mr Yadav had lost the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav that year. Mr Yadav, however, expressed displeasure at party leaders speaking against the BJP by taking the name of an individual (Mr Modi), and urged them not to do so.
While Mr Kumar invoked the example of Mr Vajpayee by stressing the need for someone like him to govern this country, he also issued a veiled threat to the BJP and added: “If our views are ignored, then we will take a step... Compromises are made in politics, but there are certain fundamental principles like secularism which cannot be compromised.”
Mr Kumar said: “We want the train (NDA) to be on track, but if the train derails we will decide according to the situation and time (on) what to do. Who has seen tomorrow?”
Sounding philosophical, Mr Kumar went on to add: “When life has no certainty, what certainty (does) a chair have? If it has to go, then it has to go.”
This remark is being interpreted as meaning the JD(U) was prepared to go all the way in blocking Mr Modi’s prime ministerial candidature.