Infighting in Bihar BJP over CM candidate

At a time when the Janata Parivar has joined hands to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls, infighting within their archrival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over leadership issue is getting bitter by the day. 

Even ‘Virat Karyakarta Samagam’, addressed by BJP’s president Amit Shah, failed to bring the warring factions together for a concentrated campaign.

Infighting within the Bihar BJP was out in the open during their mega rally called on the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar. In the crucial public meeting, aimed at wooing dalits – considered as a vote bank for the Janata Parivar – two prominent faces of the state BJP did not get a place to sit. 

The leaders who stayed away from the rally were Patna Saheb MP Shatrughan Sinha and Buxar MP Ashwini Choubey. Sinha is the face of Kayashta community in the state, while Choubey represents Brahmins. Sources in the party expressed that both the ‘sidelined’ leaders are not in the good books of Sushil Kumar Modi, frontrunner for the chief ministerial’s post.

“This is a do-or-die election for the BJP in the state.The party has brought a pool of talent from all segments of social community under one umbrella. This election will have a historical significance as it is in a way culmination of a personal political war between two Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar. The BJP should tread with utmost caution,” a party insider said.

Union Agriculture Minister and former state BJP chief Radha Mohan Singh said, “There is nothing to worry as no war is going on over chief ministerial candidate in the party.”

While JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, “It is BJP’s internal matter, so I don’t find any logic on commenting. But one thing is very clear that BJP is in bad shape in the state and they would bite the dust in the upcoming assembly elections.”