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“Nitish Kumar not adhering to coalition dharma”

Patna: Senior BJP leader Harendra Pratap Singh has slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for not adhering to “coalition dharma” and charged Mr. Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi with having “little care for the welfare of the state and more interested in clinging to power.” “Mr. Nitish’s ability to stick to the coalition dharma is under doubt. Both the Chief Minister and Mr. Modi are more interested in clinging to power than in the welfare of the state”, Mr. Singh, a national executive member of the BJP, alleged in an open letter to Mr. Kumar on Monday.

Mr. Singh alleged that the activists of the saffron party were feeling “suffocated” in the state and cautioned the Chief Minister against its repercussions. Alleging that the policy of appeasement was being followed by the state government, he demanded that the Chief Minister directed the officers to give equal respect to leaders of the ruling JD(U) and the BJP.

Asserting that the BJP had been denied its due share in the government, Mr. Singh cited the example of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in running a coalition government by giving more than the due share to the coalition partners.

“But in Bihar, this practice has not been followed as the Chief Minister takes unilateral decisions on all major issues”, he charged.

Mr. Singh, also former in-charge of the BJP’s Bihar unit, who now holds the same position for Assam and Sikkim, further alleged that even 60:40 post sharing formula between the JD-U and the BJP was not being followed in ministry formation and nominations to various posts.

Mr. Singh reminded the Chief Minister of the BJP giving much more representation to the JD-U in the Vajpayee ministry than the party deserved according to its strength in parliament.- PTI

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