Patna:
Tension is mounting between the BJP and the Janata Dal United (JDU) after a controversial advertisement showing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi upset Nitish so much that he cancelled a dinner with BJP leaders last night.(Read: Trouble for BJP-JDU alliance)
But a defiant Narendra Modi is not about to back off. He has virtually thrown an open challenge to Nitish Kumar with full page advertisements listing his achievements as Gujarat chief minister splashed across Patna dailies. (Read: Nitish-Modi ad row)
Sources say Modi seems to be using the BJP national executive meet to send a message to Nitish and he is planning to go ahead and address Sunday's party rally. (Read: Modi's image makeover gone wrong)
It may be recalled that in the previous state polls and the Lok Sabha elections, Nitish Kumar had not allowed Modi to campaign in Bihar.
The ties between the long time allies came under severe strain over the ad released by the BJP showing Nitish Kumar holding hands with Modi.
But the head of the advertising agency in Patna that released this ad had earlier told NDTV that Surat BJP MP CR Patil cleared the ad.
"The final artwork was sent by Mr C R Patil, the Member of Parliament from Surat and it was sent to the newspapers around 5 pm. If there was anything objectionable, the newspaper could have stopped its release," said Arindam Guha, director of the ad agency.
"This was not a political advertisement. There were local businessmen who hailed from Bihar. They were the contributors, they only paid us the money," Guha added.
So, the question now is whether Modi was also party to the decision or not.
But a defiant Narendra Modi is not about to back off. He has virtually thrown an open challenge to Nitish Kumar with full page advertisements listing his achievements as Gujarat chief minister splashed across Patna dailies. (Read: Nitish-Modi ad row)
Sources say Modi seems to be using the BJP national executive meet to send a message to Nitish and he is planning to go ahead and address Sunday's party rally. (Read: Modi's image makeover gone wrong)
It may be recalled that in the previous state polls and the Lok Sabha elections, Nitish Kumar had not allowed Modi to campaign in Bihar.
The ties between the long time allies came under severe strain over the ad released by the BJP showing Nitish Kumar holding hands with Modi.
But the head of the advertising agency in Patna that released this ad had earlier told NDTV that Surat BJP MP CR Patil cleared the ad.
"The final artwork was sent by Mr C R Patil, the Member of Parliament from Surat and it was sent to the newspapers around 5 pm. If there was anything objectionable, the newspaper could have stopped its release," said Arindam Guha, director of the ad agency.
"This was not a political advertisement. There were local businessmen who hailed from Bihar. They were the contributors, they only paid us the money," Guha added.
So, the question now is whether Modi was also party to the decision or not.
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