File photo: BJP President Amit Shah.
Grappling with a crisis within, the Janata Dal United or JD(U) today accused the BJP of plotting a split in the party - a charge denied by the party, which said the entire crisis was triggered by former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's "obsession" for power.
JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi suggested that Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was working at the BJP's behest and said he had no right to attend the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi today as he no longer enjoyed the confidence of the majority of legislators after JD(U) lawmakers elected Nitish Kumar as their new leader in Patna yesterday.
Asked about Mr Manjhi's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Tyagi said, "The fact is BJP President Amit Shah is working overtime to engineer a split in our party, like he is doing with Trinamool Congress. He has failed... "
"If the need arises, we will parade 130 MLAs before the governor or even the President," he told PTI.
Mr Manjhi has refused to step down from the chief minister's post after terming the party's meeting yesterday "unconstitutional". He is said to be exploring the possibility of getting the BJP's support to remain in the top post.
The BJP hit back at JD(U) over its allegations, saying the entire crisis was triggered by Mr Kumar. "This crisis has arisen because of Nitish Kumar and his obsession for power. It's an internal row brewing within the JD(U). ...They are now putting the blame on us as they are unable to handle their own crisis," party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
He claimed that Mr Kumar had walked out of the JD(U)-BJP coalition government in Bihar as he nurtured the ambition of becoming the Prime Minister one day.
"However he made Jitan Manjhi, a Mahadalit, the Chief Minister after JD(U)'s poor show in the (Lok Sabha) polls but now he wants to be the Chief Minister once again," Mr Hussain said, adding the BJP as Bihar's main opposition party was keeping a close watch on the developments in the state.