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BJP rules out change in leadership in Bihar

Patna: Asking rebel leaders having a grudge against the party’s higher echelons in Bihar to “cool down”, the Central leadership of the BJP on Thursday said there will be no changes at the top level in the State unit.

The message was communicated to them by general secretary Kalraj Mishra who was on a damage control exercise following rumblings in the State party over the recent reshuffle in the Nitish Kumar ministry.

“Stop it. No more question about changing the State leadership. The message to the MLAs and the leaders who showed signs of resentment is clear,” Mr. Mishra said after emerging out of the meeting during which he met each of the party MLAs and elicited their views for strengthening the organisation.

Noting that he rejected a debate against the State leadership, Mr. Mishra said senior leaders like L.K. Advani and president Rajnath Singh never discussed the issue of change in leadership “and we can’t think of it at this stage when the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner”.

Mr. Mishra, however, said he would apprise the Central leaders of the views of the party MLAs and senior leaders during a meeting in New Delhi on Friday.

“The reshuffle exercise and change of the departments of ministers by Nitish Kumar was done after consultation with the BJP Central leadership,” he said, adding no State leader should be blamed for it.

When contacted, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, facing the brunt of the rebels after the reshuffle, said Nitish Kumar has already clarified about the consent he took from BJP’s Central leadership for the reshuffle and change in the portfolios of the ministers.

While Mr. Modi kept himself away from Mr. Mishra’s exercise, the rebels expressed satisfaction after the meeting. According to BJP insiders, only Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Nand Kishore Yadav, the two BJP heavyweights in Bihar, have support of some MLAs after their portfolios were changed.

While Mr. Choubey was shifted from urban development department to the public health engineering department, Mr. Yadav, formerly minister for road construction, was made the minister for health.

According to political observers, the approach of the BJP leadership is to cool down the situation and state leaders who have a grievance against Mr. Modi have been asked not to ventilate their ire in public.

An influential section of the State BJP, largely upper caste in composition, has seen axing of the two ministers -- Chandramohan Rai (health) and Janardan Singh Sigriwal (arts and culture) -- as a reason to renew their campaign against Mr. Modi but they have no support-base, they said.

Mr. Modi still enjoys the support of over 40 out of the 55 MLAs of the party as he played a vital role in allotment of tickets to them during the last Assembly elections, they said. -- PTI

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BJP rules out change in leadership in Bihar

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