A war of words has erupted in the Bihar unit of the BJP with one section of the party expressing displeasure over chief minister Nitish Kumar’s adverse comment on “Ekta Yatra” undertaken by the youth wing of the Saffron party, while another group of state leaders asking the former to show restraint, as in alliance politics such attacks are unacceptable.
Criticising the chief minister, a senior state BJP leader, who has been imported to the party fold from RSS, Hrendra Pratap is reported to have strongly denounced Mr Kumar for interfering in the saffron party’s internal affairs.
Claiming that his party has never made any comment on whatever has been happening in the JD(U), a key ally of BJP in the state, Mr Pratap asked, “Did Nitish Kumar ask the BJP when he ushered men like Taslimuddin into his party fold or at the time of giving ticket to politicians having criminal background. Mr Nitish should stop sermonising the BJP. If he has any objection to Rashtriya Ekta Yatra, he should have talked to the BJP leadership on or before January 12, when it was flagged off and not now when the leaders and workers are getting beaten up by the police in Jammu.”
The top leadership of the BJP in the state, however, dismissed Mr Pratap’s contention saying that what he had said is “objectionable”.
Sensing the sensitivity of the issue, which has the potential to disturb the relationship between the two ruling allies, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi was quick to condemn Mr Pratap’s statement and said, the BJP leader has used “objectionable language”.