NDA allies — the JD(U) and BJP — on Friday urged each other to change their minds on the issue. With no side indicating a willingness to review their decision, a combative JD(U) further queered the pitch by praising UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee’s work as finance minister.
While BJP national spokesman Ravishankar Prasad asked both the JD(U) and the Shiv Sena to support NDA’s presidential candidate P.A. Sangma instead of Mr Mukherjee, JD(U) national spokesman Shvanand Tiwary appealed to the BJP to support Mr Mukherjee. Mr Tiwary’s appeal came after Mr Prasad told reporters in Patna that the JD(U) and the Shiv Sena should support the BJP’s chosen candidate, Mr Sangma.
“We (BJP and JD-U) have been in an alliance for 16 years and fought nine elections together so far. All of us, Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav included, have walked together in our fight against the Congress for long and gone to jail together during the Emergency. We urge both the JD(U) and the Shiv Sena to reconsider their decision and support Sangma in order to strengthen our non-Congressism,” said Mr Prasad.
Mr Tiwary, urging the BJP to support Mr Mukherjee’s candidature, described him as “a seasoned and experienced politician” and “a person with intelligence and commitment to the Constitution and parliamentary democracy”.
Maintaining that the JD(U)’s support to Mr Mukherjee must not be seen as its support to the Congress, Mr Tiwary made matters worse for the BJP by praising Mr Mukherjee’s work as the finance minister on a day the BJP held jail-bharo rallies across the country in protest against the UPA government’s financial policies and alleged corruption.
“The country’s financial situation is in a crisis now, but this is also a global crisis. Despite the growth and financial prowess attained by India, the fruits of growth are not reaching the masses and there is still widespread poverty and price rise We (JD-U) believe the causes lie somewhere in the globalisation and liberalisation models,” Mr Tiwary said.