 "JD-U says bye to BJP; Sushil Modi calls it betrayal with Bihar")
After days of political drama, JD-U today finally confirmed that it is out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
To rub salt in the wounds of the right winged party, Bihar Chief Minister and senior JD-U leader Nitish Kumar also sacked all BJP ministers from his cabinet.
Kumar will now show his majority in the state assembly on Wednesday. Kumar called a meeting of his cabinet in the morning, but BJP ministers refused to attend. After the meeting, the senior leaders of the JD-U met and discussed the current political scenario. In this meeting final decision about the breakup of 17 years old marriage of BJP-JD-U was taken. Nitish Kumar also decided to prove his majority in the assembly.
Announcing the split, JD-U national president Sharad Yadav said that situations had become difficult for the two parties to stay together. He said, "Our relationship with BJP saw many ups and downs in the last 17 years, but we always tried to work together under NDA's national agenda. In the times of Atal-Advani, the collation ran on the trust. However, in the recent time in we feel trust deficit in the alliance. It will not be beneficial for either of us to stay in the partnership. Therefore, we have decided to step out of the NDA." Yadav also announced his resignation from the post of NDA convener.
Later, the Bihar Chief minister said that JD-U forced to take this decision, when the alienation from the basic principles of collation became clear. "Our alliance partner is now going through a big change," said Kumar," and we do not agree with this change... We cannot compromise on our basic principles. Therefore, our relationship with NDA is over." He also held "outside interference" in the BJP responsible for this break up. "We, along with state BJP leadership, tried very hard to continue the alliance, but outside interferences have created problems for us... We were banking on the state leadership of our collation partner for support. However, they refused to support us and hence left us with no choice," added the chief minister.
He said, "We tried to resolve the matters through dialogues, and if they wanted, offer them a respectable exit, but they (BJP leaders) refused to meet us. Then, we called cabinet meeting, but they also skipped that. In this situation, we were left with no option but to recommend sacking of some ministers. We have also decided to prove our majority in the assembly."
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On a question about why JD-U is opting out of the NDA, when his Gujarat counterpart has not been announced as Prime Ministerial candidate, Kumar said, "People such as Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jetly have been appointed chairman of the campaign committee before, but the scene never resembled that of a coronation. This is not a technical thing. Perception has been created. We are a political party and we have to run our party also." However, he bucked a question about joining hands with new political partners.
The BJP, in return, has termed his step as "a great betrayal with the people of Bihar". "The JD-U has broke the alliance," said Ex Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, "and thus the trust of the people of Bihar. It is a black day for the state. He must resign." He also said that the BJP has called for a Bihar Band on Tuesday. Sushil Modi also accused Nitish of doing politics of ease. He said, "When they needed us, we were secular. Now we have become communal. It is nothing but politics of ease."