The BJP's Kailash Vijayvargiya has given a bizarre take on the sudden termination of alliance with Nitish Kumar, after various leaders of the party criticised the Bihar Chief Minister on multiple levels. "When I was travelling abroad, someone said women there change their boyfriends at any time. The Chief Minister of Bihar is also similar, never know who's hand he may hold or leave," said Mr Vijayvargiya, who is the party's National General Secretary, in Indore on Thursday. His remarks were met with loud guffaws from his audience.
Mr Vijayvargiya, known for his rash comments, had set off a controversy in June with his offer to hire 'Agniveers' as security guards at the party office. Later, he claimed his remarks were twisted by the "toolkit gang". The Opposition had a field day, with multiple parties pummeling the BJP leader for his remarks.
Mr Kumar had ended his tie-up with the BJP last week.
Initially the BJP indicated that it was not entirely unexpected and they had not tried to forestall it. But later, Bihar's former Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad admitted that the party's chief strategist Amit Shah had indeed attempted to talk Mr Kumar out of it and save the alliance.
But Mr Kumar, convinced that Mr Shah is trying to split his party -- the way the BJP split the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and toppled the Uddhav Thackeray government -- was not to be persuaded.
Senior BJP leader and Mr Kumar's former deputy Sushil Modi said the Chief Minister had assured Mr Shah that there was "nothing to worry about" just two days before the split. His party attributed the move to Mr Kumar's ambitions to become the Prime Minister.
Asked if he wants to be the Opposition's Prime Ministerial candidate, Mr Kumar told reporters that he was "not a contender for anything". "The question to ask is if the person who came in 2014 will win in 2024," he said.
