As the BJP-backed Opposition presidential candidate P.A. Sangma visited Patna to garner support in his favour on Saturday, the occasion freshly scratched the raw wounds in the worsening relations between Bihar’s ruling allies, the JD(U) and BJP, setting off another war of words.
The BJP, already feeling hurt by senior ally JD(U)’s support to UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, grabbed the occasion to obliquely point at a perceived pro-Congress attitude emerging in the JD(U) leadership. As expected, the JD(U) got annoyed and immediately shot back at the views openly expressed by a senior BJP leader and Cabinet minister.
“Some parties today have been seized by opportunistic politics. Ram Manohar Lohia, Jaiprakash Narain and Karpoori Thakur made such great efforts to unite the country against the Congress and its misrule. But if these towering leaders were alive today, they would feel ashamed to see that their followers have turned opportunist and chosen to almost sit in the lap of the Congress,” said minister for animal husbandry and fisheries Giriraj Singh of the BJP. Some other BJP leaders also aired similar views.
The JD(U), whose success in Bihar has been built on its strong anti-Congressism, sensed the far-reaching adverse implications of these comments and admonished the BJP.
“They (BJP) must stop talking in such words. We have made it clear that our support to Mukherjee does not mean our support to the Congress or the UPA. Besides, where does their candidate (Sangma) sit and do his politics?” asked JD(U) spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar. He was referring to the fact that the NCP, Sangma’s party till recently, was an ally of the UPA.