Patna:
With his alliance with the BJP flat-lining, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has received phone calls from senior BJP leaders like LK Advani and Rajnath Singh, requesting him to remain a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). But Mr Kumar and his party, the Janata Dal United or JD(U), are upset with the growing influence and stature within the BJP of Narendra Modi, the Gujarat Chief Minister.
Here are 10 signs of the alliance's weakening pulse:
Nitish Kumar told reporters this morning that he has been in talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about assembling a non-Congress, non-BJP "federal front" that would include other regional powerhouses like Odisha's Naveen Patnaik.
In their phone conversations, Nitish Kumar reportedly offered no assurance to BJP stalwarts Rajnath Singh and LK Advani that he will reconsider his decision to end their partnership.
A senior leader from Mr Kumar's JD(U) visited Ms Banerjee yesterday for what he described as a courtesy call. KC Tyagi said, "Both the UPA and NDA coalitions have failed." That is a direct criticism from Mr Kumar's party of the national alliance fronted by the BJP; the JD(U) is a senior member.
An unusually aggressive BJP said that if Mr Kumar calls off their alliance, he should seek an election in Bihar to prove he hasn't lost the people's mandate. "We won't compromise on that, we have taken the decision after a lot of discussion," said the BJP's vice president CP Thakur.
The Bihar Chief Minister has asked all legislators from his party to stay in Patna this weekend for consultations. Sources say that will culminate will the JDU's decision on its future with the BJP.
Narendra Singh, a senior minister in Bihar from the JD(U), lashed out yesterday at the BJP's decision to make Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the head of its election campaign. "They have given the leadership in the hands of a tainted person. They have not bothered about the NDA and the country. They want to continue with their fundamentalist politics. The JD(U) will not tolerate this," he said.
In parts of the state toured recently by Mr Kumar, posters of Narendra Modi have greeted him. In happier times, the BJP would have been more sensitive to Mr Kumar's antipathy to Mr Modi.
Mr Kumar's Deputy Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP, recently tweeted his photographs with Narendra Modi at the BJP's Goa conclave. Bihar's Modi is usually very circumspect and flaunting his proximity to Narendra Modi could be read as the BJP's acceptance of an imminent ending for its alliance.
Another example of that reconciliation to a split is the BJP's invitation to Narendra Modi to address an election rally in Patna in October. Nitish Kumar has placed a virtual restraining order on Narendra Modi campaigning in Bihar.
A flashpoint in the alliance was hit a few days ago when the JD(U) lost an important election in the Lok Sabha constituency of Maharajganj. BJP leaders accepted that their cadres had not worked for the JD(U) candidate.
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