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Journalism of Courage
The BJP8217;s success in getting the NDA8217;s endorsement on the twin issues of Savarkar and Uma Bharati may prove shortlived with growing resentment among its allies 8212; particularly the Janata Dal United 8212; on the manner in which the Opposition8217;s agenda is being hijacked by 8216;8216;Hindutva concerns8217;8217;.
JDU leaders are particularly angry with their chief and NDA convenor George Fernandes for playing along with the BJP without consulting anyone in the party. 8216;8216;There was no meeting of the JDU parliamentary party to discuss the strategy but George unilaterally endorsed the BJP8217;s decision to disrupt Parliament on the two issues,8217;8217; a party leader said.
At its two-day national executive from July 31, the JDU had passed a resolution to break ties with the BJP if it returned to hardline Hindutva.
JDU sources said while the party was united in the campaign against tainted ministers, more so because all of them hail from Bihar and belong to the RJD, it did not share the BJP8217;s perception on either Savarkar or the Uma Bharati issue. Nor do JDU leaders Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav or Digvijay Singh share the BJP8217;s and George Fernandes8217; antipathy towards Congress and Sonia Gandhi, sources said. One reason for Fernandes joining hands with the BJP and Shiv Sena over the Uma Bharati arrest is his animus towards Sonia Gandhi, sources said. This was clear from the NDA resolution adopted this morning which said: 8216;8216;Indeed, our worst fears about Sonia Gandhi8217;s foreign origin have now come true8230;by protecting tainted ministers in the UPA government8230;and seeking the arrest of Uma Bharati, Sonia Gandhi has clearly shown that she does not understand the history and ethos of India, nor the psyche of the Indian people.8217;8217;
While Fernandes continues to be bitterly opposed to the Congress, large sections of the JDU are keen to have a tie-up with the party in the coming Bihar Assembly elections, sources said. 8216;8216;If the Congress leaves Laloo, we are ready to leave BJP. A Congress-Paswan-JDU combine can defeat the RJD,8217;8217; a JDU leader said. Elections in Bihar and Jharkhand are due early next year.
Other NDA allies such as the Trinamool Congress and TDP are wary of backing an RSS-backed mass campaign on the 8216;8216;tiranga8217;8217; or Savarkar. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has not attended Parliament this session and her party went unrepresented at today8217;s NDA meeting.
TDP leader Yerran Naidu, on the other hand, said while his party had agreed to 8216;8216;floor coordination8217;8217; with the BJP on the Savarkar and Uma Bharati issues, it did not mean that it would join any nationwide campaign.
