The Hindu : Front Page : BJP in damage control mode

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Wednesday, Jun 23, 2010
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BJP in damage control mode

Neena Vyas

It wants “honourable” way out of Bihar mess

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership on Tuesday began a series of crucial internal meetings to find a way out of the political mess it finds itself in with the Bihar coalition partner, the Janata Dal (United), amid signs of a thaw in their frosty relationship.

Through the day, senior leaders from Bihar and central party leaders from the State met parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani. General secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi also had meetings with JD(U) president Sharad Yadav.

Late at night, after Mr. Gadkari returned here from a day-long visit to Rajasthan, a scheduled meeting with the Bihar unit's core group began. State BJP president C.P. Thakur, Mr. Sushil Modi, a couple of Ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Husain were present.

Telephonic contact between Mr. Kumar and a senior BJP leader from Bihar and the BJP ensuring that its Ministers attended a Cabinet meeting in Patna on Tuesday are the first signs that both sides may be willing to fill the cracks in the alliance.

The distinct impression was that the party was working towards a resolution of the crisis. A senior leader said: “Divorce is not at all advisable. We want to continue the relationship, but with self-esteem.”

Another senior BJP leader admitted that mistakes were made on both sides. “If [Gujarat Chief Minister] Narendra Modi's publicity blitz during the Patna national executive committee meeting was unnecessary, [Bihar Chief Minister] Mr. Nitish Kumar also over-reacted [in returning Rs. 5 crore sent by Gujarat towards flood relief].”

In Jharkhand, a hurried decision ended the BJP's coalition rule, with the imposition of President's rule. In Bihar too it is a coalition partner in the government and does not want to do anything that would entail a heavy political cost just ahead of a crucial Assembly election.

The mood in the BJP was that it wanted to find an “honourable” way out of the chain of events that led to the souring of relations with its partner of 15 years.

Mr. Husain said he had no information on the JD(U) wanting to go it alone in the Assembly elections, and “nothing” had been conveyed to the BJP leadership about any “condition” the party wanted to impose on it for continuing the alliance.

This was a reference to reports that the JD(U) wanted an assurance that the BJP would keep Mr. Narendra Modi and the young MP, Varun Gandhi, out of the poll campaign.

The central BJP leadership is acutely aware that a break with the JD(U) — after the parting of ways with Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal in the run-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha polls — would spell the end of the National Democratic Alliance.

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