A fresh wave of posters asserting Narendra Modi’s suitability for the Prime Minister’s post that have come up on the roads and meeting venues of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s third leg of Seva Yatra in Gaya has imposed fresh strains between the state’s ruling JD(U) and BJP.
A new organisation linked to the BJP called the “Narendra Modi Vichar Manch” (NMVM) is said to be behind the posters that greeted the JD(U) stalwart’s itinerary in the southern district on Wednesday and Thursday. After a similar “poster warfare” during Mr Kumar’s travels in Gopalganj and Sitamarhi last week, the latest occurrence has threatened the semblance of harmony between the two ruling allies.
What has left the JD(U) worried is the fact that these pro-Modi posters have singled out Mr Kumar’s journey route and meeting venues in Bihar’s interiors. JD(U) leaders believe the BJP, unable to digest the strong anti-Modi sentiments expressed by Mr Kumar, is deliberately trying to embarrass him and possibly to bring the simmering acrimony between the two old allies to a premature head well before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The colourful posters, bearing large photographs of the Gujarat chief minister, carry texts such as “Jan-jan ki awaz: 2014 mein Narendra Modi ki sarkar”. (The voice of the masses call for Narendra Modi’s government in 2014.) Bihar’s BJP leadership, aware of the consequences of the incessant display of pro-Modi posters, has been reluctant to own up responsibility, but concedes that it is the national party’s workers who have been putting up the posters.
“How can we suppress the spontaneous sentiment of our party workers just because some people do not like them?” asked Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey in reply to questions about the spurt of pro-Modi posters.
The JD(U), meanwhile, has decided to wait and watch even as it tries hard to digest the growing embarrassment.