New Delhi, Patna:
Deal or no deal? After public attacks, thinly-veiled threats, and a chain-reaction of meetings, signs are that the BJP and Nitish Kumar will end their political marriage in Bihar - it's just not clear who will be the first to serve the divorce papers.
In Patna, on Monday morning, Nitish Kumar appeared relaxed as he said to reporters, "You should all relax." (
Watch) But a ceremony just minutes before that to swear in the new Chief Justice seemed anything but relaxed. Kumar and his Deputy CM, Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP, graced the occasion without any interaction. (
Read: Latest in Modi-Nitish row: Bihar returns Gujarat's Kosi aid |
Now, BJP's Sushil Modi snubs Nitish Kumar)
Kumar then left for the airport and his pubic rally in Nalanda without any BJP escorts - another ominous sign that the alliance between his party, the JD(U), and the BJP is on the brink of collapse. In a few months, Bihar votes for its next government.
In Delhi, BJP leaders from Bihar met senior partymen like LK Advani. They reportedly urged the party to decide within a week about whether to break up with the JD (U). After BJP president Nitin Gadkari's arrival in Delhi, and his consultations with Advani and others, Bihar leader Shahnawaz Hussein said, late at night, "After debating this matter, it has been decided to hold a meeting of the Bihar Pradesh core group with the president tomorrow night in Delhi. It is only after meeting with them will a final decision be taken."
(Read: No compromise on self-respect, BJP tells JD (U))Meanwhile, BJP president Nitin Gadkari has called a meeting of the party's Bihar unit Core Group on Tuesday at 9 pm to discuss the alliance with JD(U) in the state.
The flashpoint for the crisis was a series of ad placed last week in Bihar newspapers by the BJP to coincide with its National Executive meeting in Patna. (
Read: After ad row, Nitish cancels dinner for BJP leaders)
One of the ads showed Nitish Kumar with Narendra Modi at a rally. Another highlighted Gujarat's donation to Bihar for the floods in Kosi in 2008. Kumar says the BJP did not seek his permission for the ads, and on Sunday, the Bihar government returned Gujarat's 5 crore donation. In earlier statements, Kumar had said Gujarat's decision to brag about its help to Bihar was in poor taste. (
Pics: Nitish-Modi standoff in Bihar)
Sources in the JD(U) say Kumar, who needs to woo Muslim votes away from leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, does not want his secular image to be tarnished by association with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Sharad Yadav, another senior leader of the JD (U), continues to emphasize that the controversy over the ads is not a stress test of his party's alliance with the BJP. "Whatever happened on the 12th should be forgotten," urged Yadav on Monday. (
Watch: Will Nitish-BJP alliance survive in Bihar?)
Back home in Bihar, not one of the 81 JD(U) MLAs have expressed any discontent with the Chief Minister's comments or actions. "Nitish Kumar has led the alliance in Bihar really well over the last five years ...and it is Nitish Kumar who is going to lead the campaign for us in the upcoming elections .....now how long the tie up with the BJP will continue is for the BJP to decide as they started all this," said Shivanand Tiwari, Spokesperson, JD(U). Kumar is a popular Chief Minister, and with elections around the corner, party members would prefer to be seen as close to him, not opposed to him.
Also read: Now, Paswan attacks Nitish over BJP tension