Thaindian News

Patna, Sep 14 (IANS) A day after a Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader asked his party to rethink allying with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar for the state assembly polls, a BJP minister Tuesday said such remarks would only help opposition leader Lalu Prasad.
Bihar Cooperative Minister Giriraj Singh said some JD-U leaders were behaving as if they were against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returning to power in Bihar.

Senior JD-U leader Shivanand Tiwari Monday asked his party to reconsider ties with the BJP over reports that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would campaign in the coming assembly elections in the state in October-November.

Giriraj Singh told IANS here: “It seems that some JD-U leaders like Tiwari are against the return of the NDA to power in Bihar.”

Singh said Tiwari’s behaviour would only help Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad ahead of the state assembly polls.

“Tiwari’s remarks will only help Lalu, no one else,” he said.

Singh alleged that Tiwari was not alone. “There are some powerful and influential leaders in the JD-U who are against the NDA returning to power in Bihar,” he said.

However, Singh said Tiwari should take his suggestion directly to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar instead of talking through the media.

“I think Tiwari should take this issue to Nitish Kumar directly and advise him to sever the JD-U’s ties with the BJP,” he said.

Singh last month announced that he plans to invite Narendra Modi for campaigning in his constituency if he contests the upcoming assembly elections.

Singh, who is currently a member of the legislative council, said he failed to understand the hue and cry if Modi campaigned in Bihar.

Tiwari Monday said that it was a closed chapter that Modi would not campaign in Bihar, but added that some BJP leaders have been trying hard to give a fresh lease of life to the issue.

Bihar will elect a new 243-seat assembly in a staggered month-long polling from Oct 21 to Nov 20 in what is expected to be a stiff battle for power.

Modi had not campaigned for the NDA in Bihar in any election after the Godhra riots of 2002. The JD-U had strongly opposed Modi visiting Bihar even for the Lok Sabha election campaign in 2009.

In June, some BJP leaders of the state questioned Nitish Kumar’s decision to return the money given by Gujarat in 2008 for flood relief.

Differences between Nitish Kumar and the BJP began June 12 when he expressed displeasure over newspaper advertisements featuring him and Narendra Modi. An angry Nitish Kumar cancelled a dinner for BJP leaders attending its national executive meeting here.