Pose Godhra question to Vajpayee,not Nitish,says JD(U)

On Monday,the BJP had slammed Nitish’s speech during the JD(U)’s national executive meet targeting Modi,though without naming him. On Tuesday,Nitish preferred to respond to RJD chief Lalu Prasad questioning his secular credentials for doing “precious little” in 2002. “Law and order is a state subject and there was nothing much I could have done as the railway minister. I have responded to such queries by Laluji in Parliament,” Nitish said,and made no reference to BJP spokesperson Minakashi Lekhi criticising him on similar lines.

JD(U) national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Shivanand Tiwari,who was given the task to clarify the party’s stand,said: “We are hurt and surprised at unwarranted reaction by BJP leaders on Nitish’s Delhi speech. They should stop verbal assault and respect their oldest and trusted ally. We will take cognisance of what BJP national president Rajnath Singh says about us in the coming days.”

Tiwari said the party wondered why BJP leaders were raising Godhra questions now. “The BJP should rather put this question before Vajpayee who had reminded Modi of ‘rajdharma’ for his “failure” to control communal violence,” he said,clarifying that Nitish’s “tilak ,topi “ reference was meant to stress the need for Hindu-Muslim unity.

Tiwari added,“There is nothing new about the JD(U)’s stand on Modi. Everyone knows he was not allowed to campaign during Bihar elections. What Nitish said in Delhi was in consonance with the party line. We have every right to air our views.” Referring to Gujarat government advertisement showing Nitish and Modi holding hands during the 2010 BJP national executive,he said,“Everyone knows what had happened then and what was the motive behind it.”

With reference to Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi’s statement terming Nitish’s speech was “unfortunate and hurt party leaders and workers”,Tiwari said,“Sushil Modi is a BJP leader and we cannot expect him to welcome our stand.”

However,Sushil Modi on Tuesday said that the JD(U) and BJP should work together to “oust the UPA” rather than engage in fighting with each other. He said the state’s political situation will be discussed in Delhi in state BJP’s core committee meeting on April 18.

Tiwari,on his part,said that though the JD(U) cannot force the BJP to continue the alliance,the BJP must not live in an illusion that it can form the next government at the Centre on its own. Offering olive branch to the alliance partner,Tiwari termed the Bihar coalition “a model of good governance”.