JD (U) & BJP divorced

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has snapped JD(U)’s 17-year-old partnership with BJP and sacked its 11 ministers from his Cabinet, seeking to consolidate his party’s appeal among Muslim voters by refusing to accept the elevation of his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi. Kumar, who blamed the “individual-centric” politics of BJP while pulling the plug said that his party could not “sell its soul and countenance the prospect of a polarising figure” as the leader of a coalition. BJP, on the other hand, appeared to have calculated that it had more to gain by projecting Modi than losing JD(U).

With the parting of ways, JD(U) will face a vote of confidence in a special session of the state assembly on June 19, although there is no threat to Kumar’s government as his 119-member party needs the support of just four members after BJP’s 91 members join the ranks of the Opposition.

Kumar has been wary of Modi’s perceived anti-Muslim image since the 2002 riots in Gujarat, prompting him to keep the Gujarat CM from campaigning for his party in Bihar in successive polls. JD(U)’s exit removes last hurdle for BJP’s prime ministerial face, Narendra Modi. But onus will be on Gujarat CM to compensate for losses from collapse of NDA in Bihar

Dismissing BJP’s claim of Modi’s growing popularity, Kumar said elections were not fought or won over Twitter and Facebook. “I have been seeing a new phenomenon — of Internet warriors muzzling dissenting voices,” he said, adding, “We cannot allow divisive politics to flourish.”

Even as BJP has not formally named its prime ministerial candidate, JD(U) has seen Modi’s recent anointment as the chief of his party’s campaign committee for the Lok

Sabha elections as a sign of his inevitable elevation. “After Goa, BJP has unveiled its script. And its choice was made clear as daylight,” said Kumar, referring to BJP’s national executive meet where Modi was named the head of the committee despite opposition from senior leader LK Advani.

BJP, hit back at Kumar, accusing him of betraying the mandate of the last assembly elections in the state. “NDA was given an impressive mandate by the people of Bihar. Did our party deviate from the common agreed programme? Nitish Kumar should resign,” said Sushil Kumar Modi, senior BJP leader and deputy chief minister in the coalition government.