After RSS mouthpiece Organiser criticised his views about “secular prime ministerial candidate” as “Muslim-centric thinking,” Bihar chief minister and JD(U) stalwart Nitish Kumar on Monday made it clear that his party had nothing to do with the RSS and what it thinks.
In statements that would cause further heartburn in the BJP, with which the JD(U) has been running a seven-year-old alliance government in Bihar, Mr Kumar reaffirmed his unwavering stand that the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 general elections must have secular credentials.
“If it were a statement from the BJP, I would be reacting on it. We (JD-U) do not have either any relationship or any alliance with the RSS. We have a political alliance with the BJP and there is a political base for it. Even in Bihar we run an alliance government on a common minimum programme,” said Mr Kumar to journalists after the janata durbar programme at his residence.
Indicating that the JD(U) neither considers the RSS’ views seriously nor does it see any harm to its political base in Bihar from an indifferent RSS in future, Mr Kumar added: “They (RSS) are airing their opinions and we ours. This is all very good. If there is a debate in the country now after just an interview I gave, it is all very good.”
The ruling JD(U), which highly values its Muslim support base in Bihar, has earlier faced frequent criticism from the Opposition parties for facilitating two national-level conventions of the RSS in the state in recent years and for continuing the alliance with the BJP. Outlining the three basic agreements behind its alliance with the BJP — Article 370, Uniform Civil Code and Ayodhya dispute — Mr Kumar said that he would allow no compromise on those issues.