BJP eyes second slot, JD(U) may refuse to oblige

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today had something to celebrate after nearly a year-and-a-half of defeats and internal feuding, and the party leaders looked set to enjoy a long session of self-congratulations.

But some were also busy plotting the party's demand for a deputy chief minister. According to BJP sources, the party will be pushing for Sushil Kumar Modi as a candidate for the post of deputy chief minister.

"We are the second largest party in the Assembly. We had conceded three seats to the Janata Dal (United) to accommodate the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) rebels, who had joined the JD(U). It is now our turn to make a demand," said a senior leader from Bihar.

Modi, himself, appeared rather subdued. Probably, because Shahnawaz Hussain's name had also started doing the rounds by the afternoon.

Arun Jaitley, party election in charge and general secretary, refused to confirm that the party would be demanding the deputy chief minister's post, but said top leaders of the JD(U) and the BJP would be holding separate meetings and an NDA meeting would be convened after that. "The government formation process will be as smooth as hammering out this alliance," he said.

According to sources, the demand for the deputy chief ministership is expected to be raised at the party forum soon. "The talks had started a few days earlier in Patna. The scale of victory has convinced us that we are well within our rights to demand that," said a senior party leader.

The JD(U), however, feels that the BJP does not deserve the post of deputy chief minister. "We won the elections because of a consolidation of backwards and forwards. This could be achieved following the projection of Nitish Kumar as the NDA chief ministerial candidate," said a top JD(U) leader.

"Kumar spoke of reservations for Dalit Muslims, social justice for backward castes not just Yadavs, and had to do a lot of leg work to undo the Gujarat damage. We need to consolidate a lot more. A BJP leader as the deputy chief minister will send a wrong signal," he said.

The biggest test for the alliance, however, will be to contain the aspirations of their MLAs. In fact, some MLAs have already started calling up top leaders of their parties to lobby for ministerial berths and lucrative posts.