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Paswan's MLAs divide NDA

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Nistula Hebbar New Delhi
Last Updated : Feb 06 2013 | 9:09 AM IST
The Lalu Prasad versus Ramvilas Paswan tussle is not the only issue occupying centre stage in Bihar politics. Recent reports indicate that the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (United) alliance has its own faultlines.
 
According to a senior Bihar BJP leader, the trouble between the two parties started over of the "big brother" attitude of the Janata Dal (U) in the state vis a vis the BJP.
 
But matters came to a head over JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar's remarks while the BJP was battling the crisis that had stemmed from party chief LK Advani's remarks on Mohammed Ali Jinnah in Pakistan.
 
Kumar had said if Advani did not remain the BJP chief, the JD(U) would have to reconsider the alliance with the party. Local party leaders and workers took it as another instance of interference in the BJP affairs by the JD(U) leader.
 
"The message that went down the line was that the JD(U) can now determine who can be the BJP president," said a former member of the Bihar Assembly. "The question whether we were in support of Advani or not is secondary," he added.
 
Another bone of contention between the two parties was the co-opting of the 16 Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) legislators into the JD(U) following a split in the Paswan- led party.
 
The LJP was often referred to as a "gang" rather than a political formation, he said. "The BJP leaders are chagrined to discover that the 'gang' is now part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar," he said.
 
"We are not saying that we are very clean, or that we do not have strongmen in our party. But now the NDA looks like the political formation we had been opposing," said a senior state BJP leader.
 
"The LJP legislators could have contested the next Assembly elections as independents, instead of fighting on the JD(U) tickets," the leader added.
 
According to another BJP legislator, the party is stumped on campaign issues. "The campaign is yet to begin, and already we are being jeered at when we talk of naitikta (ethics)," he said.

 
 

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First Published: Jun 21 2005 | 12:00 AM IST

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