The Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, is prepping plans to end his alliance with the BJP, said sources. Mr Kumar has ordered legislators from his party, the Janata Dal United or JDU not to leave the state capital of Patna so that they can be consulted about a possible exit from the partnership that has won two consecutive elections in Bihar.
Senior members of the JDU have resumed attacks on BJP leader Narendra Modi, whose growing hold over the BJP has antagonized the Bihar Chief Minister.
"They have given the leadership in the hands of a tainted person....they want to continue with their fundamentalist politics. JDU will not tolerate this," said Narendra Singh, a senior minister from the JDU, referring to Gujarat's communal riots 11 years ago in which hundreds of Muslims were killed during Mr Modi's first term as Gujarat Chief Minister.
Today's attack on Mr Modi came after a meeting of senior ministers attended by the BJP and chaired by Mr Kumar.
Sources in the BJP say it has reconciled to a break-up, though officially there is talk of working things out. "If there are any struggles in the coalition, we will strive to do away with them," said BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who is the Deputy Chief Minister. But he also said, "Under (Narendra) Modi's leadership, the BJP will scale new heights."
Like senior BJP leader LK Advani and his loyalists, the JDU is worried that Mr Modi's appointment as the Chairman of the BJP's election campaign committee will segue into him being made the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
The JDU says that's unacceptable.
15% of Bihar's population is Muslim, and Mr Kumar needs its support to remain in power.