Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, September 12
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) experiences what it had been eyeing at the opposition alliance!
A section of party cadre, in an overt signal to split the NDA ahead of ensuing state polls, demanded that BJP should contest all the 243 seats. It would mean deserting its ally Janata Dal United led by Nitish Kumar.
Bhupinder Yadav, party general secretary, set the ball rolling and assured the workers that BJP would try to get a majority on its own. “We will definitely cross the three digits in the assembly,” Yadav said.
BJP president J P Nadda swung into damage control exercise and said BJP and JDU would contest the elections as allies.
While speaking at the meeting of the BJP election committee chaired by Nadda, Yadav said in almost all the Hindi belt of the country including Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, MP and UP, BJP was having its own independent government. But in Bihar, it was dependent on its allies to be a partner in governance.
BJP will try to secure a majority on its own, he hoped. “BJP will form its own government under the leadership of its leader,” he told the leaders present at the meeting.
Yadav’s statement gives an indication that after the elections, BJP may seek change in the NDA leadership and demand a BJP leader to replace JDU’s Nitish Kumar.
In 2015 assembly elections, the party contested on 102 seats in alliance with its partners-LJP, RLSP and HAM(S). It had won 53 seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP tied up with JDU and contested 20 seats each.
Nadda in his presidential speech said the elections would be contested under the leadership of Nitish Kumar and BJP workers should present an united NDA picture before the electorate to get maximum seats.
None of the leaders who spoke glorified the chief minister,Nitish Kumar and gave total credit to Narendra Modi for development of the state.
Nadda later met the JDU national president Nitish Kumar and discussed seat sharing arrangements with him. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal were also present.
Nadda who worshipped at the ancient Badi Patna Devi temple visited Darbhanga and Muzaffar;pur to interact with the fishermen and vegetable growers .He flagged off the Atamnirbhar make shift chariot from the party office to launch BJP campaign through songs and rural languages highlighting the achievements of the NDA government.
Former chief minister of Maharashtra,Devendra Fadnavis,who has been made election in-charge visited Ara, 55 kms from here to get feedback of the common party workers. He is scheduled to visit Gaya on Sunday for prayers at the historic Vishnupad temple in central Bihar and later to Jahanabad,once the most extremist violent affected district of Bihar.
