After senior BJP leader L.K. Advani quit all party posts Monday, the JD-U described the development as a sad one which would adversely impact the NDA and a leader indicated that there was an unease in the party over the issue.
"It is sad... not good for NDA's health," Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav, who is also convenor of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), told news channel NDTV.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the JD-U are constituents of the coalition that projected a united front in the last two general elections of 2004 and 2009. With 20 Lok Sabha seats, the JD-U is the BJP's biggest partner in the NDA.
The JD-U and the BJP also run a coalition government in Bihar.
JD-U leader K.C. Tyagi indicated the unease within the party over Advani quitting all BJP posts.
"It is tough for us to remain a part of the NDA now that the BJP's tallest leader is gone," said Tyagi.
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"It will be difficult to deal with new members if founding members are gone," he said.
JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is averse to Modi becoming the BJP's prime ministerial nominee for the 2014 polls and has said in the past that a person with a secular image should instead be named as the party's candidate for the top post.