JD(U)'s Pawan Varma speaks of Nitish's 'private apprehensions' about BJP, questions Delhi alliance

JD(U) leader Pavan Varma on Tuesday sought ideological clarity from party president Nitish Kumar over aligning with the BJP in the Delhi elections, referring to the Bihar chief minister's "private apprehensions" on how the saffron party is leading the country.

In remarks that may embarrass Kumar, Varma claimed in a letter to him that despite his alliance with the BJP in 2017, his "private apprehensions" regarding the party and how it was leading India into a "dangerous space" did not change.

"I remember your confessing to me in private how the current leadership in the BJP party has humiliated you. You maintained, on more than one occasion, that the BJP is leading India into a 'dangerous space," the former Rajya Sabha member and JD(U) general secretary wrote.

He said, "It was your personal view, as conveyed to me, that the BJP is destroying institutions, and that there is a need for democratic and socialist forces within the country to regroup, a task for which you actually assigned a senior party official."