Patna:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said today that he is weighing the implications of his ally, the BJP, selecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its election chief - a post that effectively makes him the face of the BJP's campaign for the national election.
"Our party will consider the latest developments and then clarify our stand," said Mr Kumar, whose antipathy for Mr Modi has created a severe stress-test for the alliance between him and the BJP both at the national level and in Bihar.
Sources close to him say that Mr Kumar, who had asked the BJP to declare its prime ministerial candidate by December, is likely to advance that deadline, putting the alliance under new pressure. "The final countdown has begun," said a senior leader of his party who did not wish to be named.
Mr Kumar's party, the Janata Dal (United) said on Sunday that the decision to make Mr Modi the head of its election committee is "an internal matter" of its ally, but warned again that it will not accept Mr Modi as the presumptive prime minister of the National Democratic Alliance, which is anchored by the BJP; the JD(U) is a senior member.
JD(U) leaders have questioned the secularism of the Gujarat Chief Minister on account of the 2002 riots in his state in which hundreds of Muslims were killed during his first term.
The BJP offered a severe response yesterday. "The BJP does not need certificates of secularism from anybody. Nor have we invited outsiders for their feedback," said party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain. (Read)
"Allies will tie up with us only if we prove our strength in elections," he added, emphasising that Mr Modi's strength as a vote-getter is irrefutable.
Emboldened by Mr Modi's recent strong showing in by-elections in Gujarat - he delivered six new seats for the BJP - leaders of the party from Bihar said that the A-lister has agreed to address an election rally in Patna late in October.
Because of a political restraining order from Mr Kumar, the Gujarat Chief Minister last campaigned for the BJP in Bihar in 2005.
"Our party will consider the latest developments and then clarify our stand," said Mr Kumar, whose antipathy for Mr Modi has created a severe stress-test for the alliance between him and the BJP both at the national level and in Bihar.
Sources close to him say that Mr Kumar, who had asked the BJP to declare its prime ministerial candidate by December, is likely to advance that deadline, putting the alliance under new pressure. "The final countdown has begun," said a senior leader of his party who did not wish to be named.
Mr Kumar's party, the Janata Dal (United) said on Sunday that the decision to make Mr Modi the head of its election committee is "an internal matter" of its ally, but warned again that it will not accept Mr Modi as the presumptive prime minister of the National Democratic Alliance, which is anchored by the BJP; the JD(U) is a senior member.
JD(U) leaders have questioned the secularism of the Gujarat Chief Minister on account of the 2002 riots in his state in which hundreds of Muslims were killed during his first term.
The BJP offered a severe response yesterday. "The BJP does not need certificates of secularism from anybody. Nor have we invited outsiders for their feedback," said party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain. (Read)
"Allies will tie up with us only if we prove our strength in elections," he added, emphasising that Mr Modi's strength as a vote-getter is irrefutable.
Emboldened by Mr Modi's recent strong showing in by-elections in Gujarat - he delivered six new seats for the BJP - leaders of the party from Bihar said that the A-lister has agreed to address an election rally in Patna late in October.
Because of a political restraining order from Mr Kumar, the Gujarat Chief Minister last campaigned for the BJP in Bihar in 2005.
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