The support base of our party and our leader PM Narendra Modi is solid, RK Singh said (File)
The BJP can win the upcoming Bihar Assembly election alone as Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys massive support, Union Minister RK Singh said on Friday. While Mr Singh - an MP from the state - tried to cushion the remark with the assertion that his party respects "alliance dharma", his passing mention of BJP's hope for getting a larger chunk in the seat-sharing agreement may trigger tension with ally Janata Dal United or JDU.
"BJP can form a government on its own in Bihar. But one thing should be understood that we formed an alliance with JDU in 1996 and we have an old partnership so why should we leave our partnership. We are not going to break our alliance. Having said that, we surely are in a position to fight alone and form a government by fighting alone. There should be no doubt about that," Mr Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
"The support base of our party and our leader PM Narendra Modi is solid in Bihar. There should be no doubt in this. But one thing is sure that we will not leave our friends. Our partnership with JDU is so old that we will not leave it," he added.
The JDU, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had ended its 17-year-old alliance with BJP in 2013 but rejoined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2017 after snapping its ties with Lalu Yadav's RJD.
The JDU-BJP combine contested the national election in Bihar last year, and won. Their relation, however, deteriorated after the BJP offered just one Union Cabinet berth to JDU, which was unacceptable to Mr Kumar.
The BJP last year declared that it will contest the Bihar polls under Mr Kumar's leadership, in a move to mollify its upset ally.
"It is clear that on the basis of the support base, there should be seat-sharing between BJP and JDU. If the parties take reality into consideration, then weightage of BJP is more," the bureaucrat-turned-politician said.
The election to the 243 Assembly seats of Bihar is due in October-November. The tenure of the current Assembly will end on November 29.
The opposition and NDA ally Lok Janshakti Party - which has been targetting Mr Kumar's party for months - have demanded that election be deferred because of the coronavirus pandemic.
With inputs from ANI