Nitish snubs BJP in the run-up to Bihar polls- Oct 16, 2010

Nitish snubs BJP in the run-up to Bihar polls

Sumit Pande , CNN-IBN

Oct 16, 2010 at 08:49 | Updated Oct 16, 2010 at 09:01

Patna: Campaigning for the first phase of polls in Bihar is on full swing. And once again Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is reluctant to share the dais with any of the BJP leaders including LK Advani. Many feel this move by Nitish Kumar is aimed to woo the Muslim voters.


Nitish Kumar two months back had publicly snubbed BJP's poster boy, Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi and once again he has made his intent clear that his party the Janata Dal United will not compromise on its minority agenda, so much so that Nitish may not be sharing platform with the top BJP central leadership during the Bihar election campaign, which will run for more than a month.


After Nitish made his intentions clear, it now appears that party patriarch LK Advani will have to skip campaign for the first phase of polling later this month. Among the four dozen odd seats in this round, many have sizable Muslim population.






Nitish Kumar has all along dictated terms to the BJP in the run up to these elections, to the extent that BJP had to drop Narendra Modi from the list of campaigners that it submitted to the Election Commission.


Hence, a compromise formula has been thrashed out, with leaders of the two parties campaigning for each other’s candidates. Towards the very end of the campaigns, if BJP persists, then for the sake of formality, a joint rally could be organised.


BJP Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, "The joint campaign means we will be campaigning for each other's candidate."