Betraying another sign of the widening rifts between Bihar’s ruling allies Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party, chief minister Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) said on Monday that leaders of his party willing to join the BJP were free to do so.
Mr Kumar’s remarks, which suggested that the robust regional party expected little harm to it from the departure of some of its leaders, further raised the state BJP’s unease a week after BJP leader and former MLC Sanjay Jha defected to the JD(U).
Many BJP leaders, still feeling indignant about the senior ally gladly inducting Mr Jha in an act of alleged poaching, viewed Mr Kumar’s relaxed statement as proof of the JD(U)’s arrogance about its own political prowess in Bihar.
“Anyone willing to quit the JD(U) can do so and join the BJP,” said Mr Kumar in response to journalists’ questions about the BJP’s Bihar unit president C.P. Thakur saying that several JD(U) leaders were willing to join the BJP.
Mr Thakur, commenting on the “inappropriateness” of the JD(U) inducting Mr Jha on July 3, had said three days ago that the national party had been strictly adhering to the coalition principles.
“Many leaders of the JD(U) have been in touch with us for a long time wishing to join the BJP. But we have not given them the go-ahead as we are very mindful of the coalition dharma,” said Mr C.P. Thakur.
According to BJP sources, the party’s leaders feel more hurt for the fact that it was the JD(U) that Mr Jha chose to join than the fact of his quitting the BJP.
While the JD(U) has been consistently luring away leaders from Bihar’s three main Opposition parties — RJD, LJP and Congress — into its fold in recent years, the BJP has had little of such luck.
When it came to a BJP leader quitting to join the JD(U), the national party said it was expecting better conduct from its regional ally.