Leaders from the Bihar unit of the party C P Thakur,Ashwani Choubey,Giriraj Singh,Chandramohan Rai,Tarakant Jha and others met BJP president Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Monday.
These leaders were learnt to have met Rajnath to explain their absence from BJPs state executive meet held recently in Patna. Sources said that Rajnath held just one meeting,not two as scheduled,so as to not complicate matters with the JD(U). Accordingly,not much time was reportedly devoted to discuss Nitish Kumars diatribe against Modi. The Bihar leaders,however,reportedly used the meeting to voice sentiments against continuing alliance with the JD(U) in Bihar.
Jha told The Indian Express: Perhaps the timing of our meeting was not right. We discussed only state affairs and did not get time to talk about other issues. But Giriraj said they lodged their protest against unnecessary attack on Modi.
A day after Nitish raised the issue of secular credibility of the prime ministerial candidate,the BJP on Monday made it a point to remind the Bihar Chief Minister that he was the Railways minister at the time of 2002 Sabarmati Express burning incident that led to Gujarat riots. BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said,We reject inferences against Modi…. Nitish is nobody whose certificate (of secularism) is required.
BJPs direct attack on Nitish appeared a calibrated attempt to take the battle to JD(U)s turf and make them uncomfortable for their demands against Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. This was reflected in the sentiments of BJP leadership that confided that tensions have led to an inevitable situation that could result into parting of ways between the two allies. In Patna,members of the Narendra Modi Vichar Manch put up posters of the Gujarat Chief Minister with a caption,Next PM. The state BJP,however,said that it had nothing to do with the campaign.
Meanwhile,in an attempt to arrest a section of BJP starting a chorus for L K Advani as an acceptable prime ministerial candidate,the party on Monday played down former finance minister Yashwant Sinhas reported suggestion that Advani has potential to end the deadlock over PM candidate within the BJP and NDA.