Friction increases between JDU and BJP
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called a meeting of all Janata Dal (United) MLAs and MPs on Tuesday, leading to speculation his growing friction with the BJP may come to a head.
Chief among the many reasons why Kumar is upset with the BJP, which is an alliance partner of the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U) in Bihar, has been the BJP-led central government’s offer of token representation to allies as Union Ministers.
Kumar’s party had denied another Rajya Sabha berth last month to his former JD(U) colleague RCP Singh, who had taken a spot in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet last year without consulting Kumar. Singh bade farewell to the JD(U) over the Rajya Sabha snub.
“There’s a conspiracy against me because I’d become union minister,” said Singh, a former Indian Administrative Service officer who was once the national president of JD(U).
“I’ll just say that there’s no cure to jealousy,” he said while leaving the JD(U) yesterday.
“Nitish Kumar will not become Prime Minister in any of his seven lives,” he said, describing the JD(U) as a sinking ship.