JD-U suffered after allying with BJP: Nitish

February 06, 2023 19:06

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday asserted that the Janata Dal-United's realignment with the Bharatiya Janata Party half a decade ago, which came to an abrupt end last year, had been to the detriment of his party.

The JD-U leader was replying to queries from journalists in Banka district, which he visited as part of the 'Samadhan Yatra' mass outreach programme.

He was asked about the "open letter" to the party cadre from disgruntled parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha, who has convened a two-day meeting next week to discuss the gradual erosion of support base of the JD-U and anxieties over a rumoured "deal" with the RJD, its current ally.

A visibly peeved Kumar sought to remind Kushwaha that the latter has been always rewarded by the party despite having ditched it repeatedly and if he keeps airing his grievances in public then it will be construed as he has other plans for himself.

When asked whether he thought Kushwaha was forcing his hand at the BJP's behest, Kumar replied cryptically, "You can draw your conclusions. How much publicity this affair is getting I have never seen such spotlight on my party".

However, the wily leader indicated that he was giving a long rope to the intransigent party functionary saying, I have said it and so has our national president that nobody needs to react to whatever he (Kushwaha) says.

He, however, ridiculed Kushwaha for the repeated claim that the party was growing weak, pointing out that "our recent membership drive swelled the party ranks like never before.

"The only instance when the party did suffer harm was during our alliance in 2017," said Kumar, in an obvious reference to the BJP which he did not mention by name.

Recounting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls which JD-U and BJP contested together, along with late Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and the clean sweep made by the NDA, Kumar referred to the trajectory followed by the saffron party thereafter.

"We had asked for three to four berths (in the Union cabinet) but they said they will not give more than one, so we did not join. In the assembly polls (in 2020) we supported them but the way a campaign was run against our (JDU) candidateshas there been any such precedent?" asked Kumar.

The reference was to the rebellion by the LJP, then headed by Paswan's son Chirag, who fielded candidates in all seats contested by the JD-U vowing to dislodge the CM from power.

Many of the candidates of the LJP were BJP rebels, some of them prominent office-bearers, and the JD-U was hit hard, with its tally plummeting from more than 70 in 2015 to less than 45.

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