Sushil Modi (R) was the deputy CM of Bihar when Nitish Kumar (L) dumped the BJP and peremptorily dismissed all 11 BJP ministers from his government in June this year. (File pic)
Nitish Kumar's former deputy has launched a tweet attack on the Bihar Chief Minister for his public show of disdain towards Gujarat Chief Minister,
Narendra Modi, recently named the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for 2014.
The immediate provocation for Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi's string of posts on Twitter last evening seemed to be the warm vibes that Mr Kumar shared with the BJP's LK Advani at a meeting in Delhi. Mr Kumar's party the Janata Dal (United) explained that the exchange of smiles and greetings was merely "sanskar (social tradition)."
(Nitish Kumar, Advani 'harmony' at meet as Narendra Modi stays away)Bihar's Modi wants to know why the CM does not extend that "sanskar" to his Gujarat counterpart. "Nitish Kumar can shake hand with Nawaz Sharif (Pakistan Prime Minister) but refused to wish Namo on his birthday or greet him on his 3rd victory," he tweeted. And also, "Is this kind of untouchability good for Indian politics? What kind of inclusive politics is this? What mentality is this?"
The JD(U) and the BJP were partners for 17 years before they fell out over the elevation of Narendra Modi as the campaign chief of the BJP. Sushil Modi was the deputy CM of Bihar when Mr Kumar dumped the BJP and peremptorily dismissed all 11 BJP ministers from his government in June this year.
Sushil Modi is seen as a Narendra Modi loyalist and the Bihar unit of the BJP was the first to request the party leadership, through a resolution, to name Mr Modi the party's presumptive PM.
Since the fallout with Mr Kumar, he has also been a vocal critic of the Bihar CM. Today he also tweeted, "NKumar was very angry when a photo published in a paper showed Namo & Nkumar raising hand together. Why Nkumar was angry? (sic)"
The Bihar CM's exchange of warmth with Mr Advani at the National Integration Council meeting in Delhi yesterday, the first since the break-up, caused a flurry in Patna.
Lalu Prasad's RJD accused the JD(U) and BJP of having staged their divorce to "split the secular vote." Ramvilas Paswan of the LJP said the two parties had a "tacit understanding."