Recalling that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had praised his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi on several occasions in the past when he was a Minister in the NDA regime headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirti Azad on Saturday expressed surprise over the Janata Dal (United) planning to end its alliance with the saffron outfit.
Azad said Modi's elevation, as the chairman of campaign committee for the 2014 polls is an internal matter of the BJP.
"Modi was announced as the chairman of election committee. That's our internal party matter. You can't ask me what I am cooking in my kitchen. Whenever the candidate for Prime Minister will be announced, we will take everybody on board from within the NDA. But I fail to understand what has changed," he said.
Nitish Kumar, who returned from a tour to Patna yesterday, made it clear that there is a strain in the ties between the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP, and said that the current situation of the coalition is very difficult.
"And, we have to now decide on what to do in this difficult situation. Talks are going on from almost all quarters. On one hand, they are saying that the alliance should continue for its very old. On the other hand, the situation is such... there are difficulties," said Kumar.
"Dua dete hai jeene ki, dawa karte hai marne ki (You wish me a long life, but offer medicines that will poison me)," he added.
Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav had earlier conceded that the crisis has been stoked by the BJP's recent decision to choose Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to head its election campaign.
More From This Section
JD (U) has 118 MLAs in 243-member Bihar assembly and needs the support of only four more MLAs to reach the magic figure.
There are 91 MLAS from BJP, 21 from RJD and one each from LJP and CPI in the state assembly.