Patna:
Relations between the BJP and the Janata Dal hit a new low today. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called his deputy, Sushil Modi, and another senior BJP minister Nand Kishore Yadav for a meeting. Both leaders refused to attend.
"He wants to speak to us about things that we have no jurisdiction to talk about. So we decided not to go," Nand Kishore Yadav, who is also the NDA convenor in Bihar, said today.
Mr Kishore also reiterated the BJP's stand that it wants to keep the alliance intact. In Delhi too, where the party's top leaders met, the BJP echoed their stance.
"The government in Bihar was formed by the enormous support of the people, voting both BJP and JDU. In the interest of the people, this alliance must go on. We want it to continue," BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
However, Mr Kumar's JDU says the ending of the alliance is now a 'mere formality' and only the contours of the exit is left to be decided. The party's national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari today repeated that the BJP's decision to promote
Narendra Modi as the party's election campaign committee chief has driven the alliance to break point.
(At break point, a look at what Nitish has against Narendra Modi)"The inevitability of Narendra Modi's ascent in the BJP is something we can't reconcile to," Mr Tiwari told NDTV today. According to sources, a formal announcement on the split will be made tomorrow after a meeting between JDU president Sharad Yadav and Mr Kumar. Mr Yadav will reach Patna later today.
Mr Kumar's JDU alleges Mr Modi did not do enough to stop hundreds of Muslims from being killed in Gujarat's communal riots of 2002.
Yesterday, after returning to Patna from a state tour, Mr Kumar said, "It is time to take a decision... conditions are tough now." He looked relaxed and smiled as he offered an obituary of his partnership. "
Dua dete hain jeene ki, dawa karte hain marne ki (You wish me a long life, but offer medicines that will poison me)."
Wounded, the BJP has struck back with recriminations. BJP leaders say the JDU is trying to poach their legislators for the trust vote Mr Kumar will have to take after the alliance ends. The JDU is four seats short of a majority.
(Under pressure, coarse words between Nitish Kumar's party and BJP)