Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s advisers have asked him “keep the Gujarat chief minister, Mr Narendra Modi, away from the state and campaign”, following the riot cases pending against him.
“The cases against the Gujarat government are bound to become a major issue during the elections and upset our middle-class and Muslim vote bank,” a JD(U) leader said.
Meanwhile, a section of BJP leaders denied knowledge of Mr Kumar’s direction to keep the other BJP leader, Mr Varun Gandhi, away from the Bihar election campaigns. “In the core group meeting that was held between the JD(U) and BJP leaders, Varun was not discussed,” a senior BJP leader said.
Sources in the JD(U) also claimed that Mr Varun Gandhi had met the party president, Mr Sharad Yadav, and was categorically told that the party “has no issues with him”. Repeated attempts to contact Mr Gandhi failed.
A section in the BJP, however, claimed that there was an “ego clash between Mr Kumar and Mr Modi”. He said: “Both the leaders see themselves as PM candidates for the future and Mr Kumar is no mood for a competition.”