Nitish tells BJP to poach all they want, he's not worried

Patna: There appears to be no treaty on the Bihar horizon for the state's two ruling parties. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has told his partner, the BJP, that it's welcome to take anyone who wants to leave his party.

Mr Kumar's remarks follow a thinly-disguised threat issued a few days ago by the BJP's president in Bihar.  He had said that several state legislators and MPs from Mr Kumar's Janata Dal (United) are in negotiations to defect to the BJP.  "If somebody wants to go from my party, they (BJP) can please take them..I have absolutely no objection," the chief minister said after his janata durbar today, a weekly version of open house at his residence where members of the public are invited to give him feedback and ask for assistance.

Political crossovers in Bihar have been a touchy topic of late - last month, a senior BJP leader Sanjay Jha, known for his proximity to the party's Arun Jaitley  -was formally inducted into the chief minister's party.

It's been a trying period for the JD(U) and the BJP with the chief ministers of Bihar and Gujarat making strong statements indicting each other without referring to each other. Narendra Modi, who heads the BJP government in Gujarat, has been strongly defended by his party's parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak SAngh (RSS).