Nitish calls it quits
17 Jun 2013 5:21 AM IST
After the week-long battle of nerves, Janata Dal (United) finally pulled the plug on its alliance partner of 17 years, the BJP, on Sunday afternoon. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar sacked 11 ministers belonging to the BJP from the state cabinet ‘for indiscipline’.
Bihar chief minister has summoned a special session of the assembly to seek a fresh vote of confidence on 19 June. On the other hand, its divorced partner BJP has called for ‘Bihar bandh’ on 18 June and decided to call it Day of Betrayal.
The sacking of the BJP ministers was followed simultaneously with JD(U) president Sharad Yadav resigning as the convenor of the NDA, which now has become literally defunct with the BJP left with just two allies – the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal.
The breakup between the two parties was announced exactly a week after Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was elevated as the chairman of election campaign committee of the BJP. JD(U) in the past too had expressed its reservations over Modi’s candidature.
‘You may want to form the government but don’t be under the misconception a single party is going to get the majority. It requires 272 MPs to make somebody the Prime Minister. NDA has to get more allies. If people think there is some wave or a storm is blowing in their favour, they are under a misconception,’ said Nitish Kumar on Sunday in an apparent dig at Modi.
The JD (U), in its strongly worded resolution on walking out of the NDA, said ‘The Goa announcement of the chairmanship of the electoral campaign committee of the BJP has filled us with deep apprehensions of the future. It has left not a shadow of doubt that this is a mere ceremonial prelude to his (Narendra Modi) nomination as the prime ministerial candidate. These developments do not augur well for the health of our secular and democratic polity’.
The resolution also took note of the squabble within the BJP leading to marginalisation of former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani. The resolution further stated that there has been a growing intolerance to any voice of dissent and moderation in the BJP’s decision making process.
Reacting to the development, BJP president Rajnath Singh said in Delhi that the ‘incident was a breach of trust.’ Speaking at a rally, Singh said, ‘JD(U) broke the alliance and I feel that is indeed unfortunate. JD(U) has betrayed us.’
Trinamool Congress lauds Nitish’s decision
On the day Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar broke away from the NDA, hope stirred among Trinamool Congress legislators about a Federal Front at the centre post the general elections in 2014, an alliance exhorted by party supremo Mamata Banerjee a week ago. ‘Time has come for all the regional parties to come together and form a Federal Front in the coming Lok Sabha election. I appeal to all the non-Congress, non-BJP regional parties to launch a united fight to free the country from misrule and anti-people decisions,’ Banerjee, who had broken away from the UPA-run government at the Centre, had said. Party MP Sisir Adhikari told Millennium Post that talks are already on with other non BJP, non-Congress parties in other states. ‘Our leader Mamata Banerjee has been talking to leaders of political parties in the eastern states, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh. Nitish Kumar joining the federal front will definitely add a lot of weight,’ he said.
Next Story
