JDU BJP rift widens as RJD Bihar chief invites Nitish Kumar to join Grand Alliance

After a recent remark by a Bihar BJP leader demanding a probe into all mosques located inside the state, JDU leader and state minister Vijendra Yadav hit out at the former, saying BJP leaders 'needed to maintain dignity'. Meanwhile, RJD state unit President Jagdanand Singh said he would invite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to walk out of the NDA and join RJD in order to form a new government, writes Amit Bhelari for ETV Bharat.

Patna: Amid differences emerging between BJP and JDU, constituents of the ruling NDA coalition in Bihar, fissures appeared to be apparent on Friday after JDU MLA Vijendra Yadav slammed a BJP leader for his comments on situations prevailing in the state. In the backdrop of a Madrasa teacher from the Dhaka Police Station area in the state's East Champaran district being held on Wednesday, State Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Niraj Bablu subsequently demanded that investigations be carried out in all Madrasas of the state.

Slamming Bablu for his remarks, Yadav, who also happens to be a minister in the cabinet of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said that state BJP leaders needed to 'maintain dignity'. "The BJP leaders are into the habit of speaking too much and they should maintain dignity before saying anything" Yadav said.

"Being part of the government, they should not speak like the Opposition. Making allegations and counter allegations is the work of the Opposition. This is not a good tradition started by the BJP leaders. If there is an issue, leaders of ruling parties should sit together with the CM to discuss said issue instead of raising it in the public domain," he further added.

Significantly, after Bablu's comment, his statement was supported by Bihar Labour Minister Jivesh Mishra and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi. Going a step ahead, the duo had demanded ban on PFI (Popular Front of India), alleging the organisation was linked to terror activities.

"It seems they (BJP leaders) have a tendency of speaking too much. People used to speak within limits during the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee because there used to be a coordination committee in Delhi as well as in the state. At present, there is nothing as such. There should be a coordination committee for better coordination among the NDA leaders" Yadav also said.

Notably, this is not the first time that demands of a coordination committee within NDA have been made by a JDU leader, previous instances including Upendra Kushwaha, the chairman of the JDU parliamentary board, as well as the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), led by Jitan Ram Manjhi.

The verbal spat between leaders within the NDA has been ensuing for some time now. Be it the contested issue of a caste census in the eastern state, or other subjects such as population control policy, transfer of government officers, law and order or any other issue, the disagreements have been plentiful.

RJD, meanwhile, has been looking to fish in troubled waters, with a party representative on Friday saying he would invite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to join the Grand Alliance. "I will ask Nitish Kumar to walk out of NDA and join the Grand Alliance, but our condition remains unchanged. He has to accept Tejashwi Yadav as Chief Minister of Bihar. Only then will we welcome him," RJD state unit president Jagdanand Singh said.

Kumar formed the coalition government alongside the RJD back in 2015, when the two parties, alongside Congress, contested assembly elections together. In 2017, however, he parted ways with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and formed the government backed by BJP.