Bihar chief minister and JD(U) stalwart Nitish Kumar on Monday finally demystified his “all 40 seats in Bihar” statements made during his ongoing state-wide tour, saying he actually meant the seats contested in alliance with the BJP and that the two allies would contest the Lok Sabha polls together.
“The 40 seats meant those that will be contested in our ongoing alliance,” said Kumar in reply to journalists’ questions at the janata durbar programme at his official residence. This clarification is now expected to restore a semblance of harmony in the strained relations between the ruling allies JD(U) and BJP in Bihar. Significant sections within the BJP had viewed Mr Kumar’s earlier statements during his “Adhikar Yatra” in September with distrust and construed them as the JD(U)’s furtive plans to go it alone in the 1014 LS polls in Bihar.
The BJP, whose leaders have lately started criticising the coalition government led by Mr Kumar, may still have much to worry about its alliance with the JD(U).
When asked about the BJP’s plans to invite Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to Bihar for a rally in March 2013, Kumar declined to comment.
The chief minister, who has opposed the BJP’s plans to invite Mr Modi to campaign in Bihar in all earlier polls, has already amply hinted that he is against any proposal by the BJP to project the Gujarat leader as the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate.