BackBJP claims 50 JD(U) MLAs in Bihar ready to revolt
If the dissenters leave the JD(U), it would result in either regime change or an early assembly poll in Bihar
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New Delhi: The first political rumbling of what is predicted to be a win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general election came out in the open on Tuesday when its senior leader in Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi claimed that 50 MLAs of the incumbent Janata Dal-United, or JD(U), were proposing to desert the party.
“More than 50 JD(U) MLAs (members of legislative assembly) are in touch with us. They have openly supported us and worked for our candidates in this Lok Sabha polls. They are not happy with the way things are in Bihar now," Modi told reporters in Patna.
If indeed the dissenters carry out the reported threat and leave the ruling party of chief minister Nitish Kumar, it would result in either regime change or an early assembly poll in Bihar—a key battleground state in the 2014 general election.
The election to the state assembly is due in the second half of 2015.
Modi, who was Bihar deputy chief minister until the JD(U) ended a coalition with the BJP in June 2013, said the 50 legislators fear the political rehabilitation of the main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal.
“Nitish Kumar’s political graph has plummeted and these JD(U) MLAs are supporting us out of their fear that RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) and (its leader) Lalu Prasad may come back to power in Bihar. They don’t want this to happen. They do not want the state to slip back to its old days," he said.
However, the BJP’s state unit in Bihar denied it wants to bring down Kumar’s government. “The statement simply means that more than 50 MLAs from the JD(U) are unhappy with Nitish Kumar. They do not want Bihar to go back to its misrule and so they are giving silent support to the BJP," Mangal Pandey, president of the BJP’s Bihar unit said. “This does not mean that we want the government to fall. We want them to complete their full term," he added.
In turn, the JD(U) made a counter-claim—that BJP MLAs are campaigning for the JD(U) in certain constituencies of Bihar. It said the BJP statement showed its “cowardly" approach.
“These people are a part of the propaganda party. When the legislative assembly was on, we dared them to bring a no-confidence motion but they did not. Now, if they have 50 MLAs, they should write to the Governor about it," Bihar food minister and chief minister Kumar’s close confidant Shyam Rajak said.
Mounting internal differences between senior party leaders in the JD(U) may hasten a predicted break up. Earlier this month senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav had publicly expressed his unhappiness over the party’s decision to support Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal’s candidacy in Varanasi against the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. He had also criticised Kumar for playing “caste politics", saying, “Both (Nitish and Lalu) have pursued the politics of caste... Unfortunately, both believe in caste-based politics."
Kumar’s government has been unstable ever since he parted ways with the BJP, a move that reduced his government to a minority with 115 members in the 243-member assembly. However, the JD(U) proved its majority on the floor of the House with the support of four Congress legislators. The BJP has 91 seats in the current assembly.
Praveen Amanullah, a cabinet minister in Kumar’s government quit recently to join the AAP. Earlier this month, BJP leaders signalled that there could be a political re-alignment in the state.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the BJP in a public meeting said that the Kumar government would fall after the Lok Sabha polls. Another senior BJP leader Ashwani Kumar Choubey has said the state government will not survive after 21 May, when a new government is expected to take over at the Centre.
A senior JD(U) leader admitted on condition of anonymity that the party could be in trouble if it fails to perform well in the Lok Sabha election. Counting for the nine-phase polls will take place on 16 May.
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