BJP bides its time after Nitish’s rant against Congress
July 04, 2017
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sent out a strong political message to its alliance partner in Bihar — the Congress — yesterday that is still reverberating in Delhi’s corridors of power.
The message is about Bihar and its future with the JDU and RJD alliance. Kumar talked about the Congress’ inability to set the agenda and accused it of sidelining farmer issues by focusing on the presidential polls.
Today, the BJP national headquarters at Ashoka Road in New Delhi witnessed a flurry of activity with MPs from Bihar at the office.
Was Bihar’s political future discussed? What should the BJP’s next move be?
The final outcome of the meeting, according to a source close to BJP President Amit Shah, is under wraps and the party is adopting a wait-and-watch approach.
Shah is waiting for more hard-hitting statements by Nitish Kumar or Lalu Prasad either for or against the Congress. Read what Nitish Kumar said here.
Party leaders want the Presidential polls to get over before it takes any decision on the JD-U. This means July is done and dusted.
In fact, BJP insiders feel that more than the BJP reacting to Bihar politics, the Congress should be spelling out their strategy.
This correspondent spoke to a few JD-U leaders today who said unanimously that its 17 years with the BJP was a smooth ride compared to its alliance with the Congress.
They said the Congress leadership is neither accommodating nor warm or forthcoming about its plans.
JD-U leader KC Tyagi informally told this correspondent that the party does not share the views of Congress V-P Rahul Gandhi’s ‘reactive’ politics and asked why the Congress waits for action by Narendra Modi to react. It would rather that its alliance partner write its own narratives.
For the sake of a united Opposition, the Congress is the the ‘mother’ of the GST, but the party has now distanced itself from it, even obstructing the implementation. The JD-U feels the Congress should not have reacted to the GST in the manner it did.
So does Tyagi articulate Nitish Kumar’s thinking? Corruption charges and the benami transactions of Lalu Prasad have now become an issue in Bihar and is a problem Nitish can do without. (Agencies)
