Denting the NDA ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections, JD(U) today dumped BJP in Bihar in protest against the elevation of Narendra Modi, bringing to an end a 17-year-old alliance that had held firm through thick and thin in national politics.
Heading the eight-year-old coalition in the state, JD(U), which does not need BJP support to run the government, removed 11 saffron ministers from the state Cabinet and decided to seek a vote of confidence on June 19 in view of the "new situation".
Today's development is a major jolt to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which is now left with only three constituents -- BJP, Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The JD(U)-BJP alliance had swept the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar winning 32 out of 40 seats. Before the general elections, BJD had dumped BJP in Odisha opposing the saffron forces hand in communal violence in the state.
The BJP reacted to the development saying it was "sad and unfortunate" but contended that this was "not the end of the world" and that more allies will come to NDA. The party asserted that the elevation of Narendra Modi as head of Election Campaign Committee was an irreversible decision and "it will not be changed".
JD(U) President Sharad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced the break up of the coalition at a press conference, exactly a week after Modi was made the BJP's campaign committee chairman, which was widely perceived as just a step short of being made the prime ministerial candidate. Yadav also quit as Convenor of the NDA.
"We cannot compromise with our basic principles. We are not worried about the consequences. As long as the alliance was Bihar-centric, there was no problem. But we had no alternative now. We are not responsible. We were forced to take this decision.
"The BJP is going through a new phase. As long as there was no external interference in the Bihar alliance, it ran smoothly. Problems began whenever there was external interference," Kumar said without taking the name of Modi even once in the half-an-hour press conference but made several barbs aimed at him.
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