Nitish taunts BJP after veterans criticism

Taking a jibe at the internal conflicts in the BJP post the debacle in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said the saffron party was now witnessing the wrath of its negative campaigning in the state.

Kumar said that the BJP had come up with a very high-profile campaign in the state.

"So in this situation when you get opposite results then it is quite natural for them to face problems. I am not a part of the BJP, hence it would not be right on my part to comment on their internal matters," Kumar said.

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"But all that I know is that every action has an equal reaction. So, the kind of action the BJP took during campaigns, making it a high profile campaign, they are just facing the reaction now," he added.

Nitish also informed the media of a Cabinet meeting on November 14 to recommend the dissolving of the Bihar Assembly.

"In the afternoon of the 14th we will hold a meeting of the Mahagathbandhan leaders, post which we will claim to form the new government. The date of the swearing-in-ceremony will be decided after that," he said.

The BJP has defended its leadership from the attack by party veterans over the crushing defeat in Bihar. In a statement last night, the BJP said the healthy precedent of collective responsibility for poll victories and defeats was set by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani.

The statement issued by three Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari said the party will certainly welcome any guidance and suggestion from senior leaders.

The statement came shortly after Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar issued a joint statement saying Bihar results show that no lesson has been learnt from the fiasco in Delhi Assembly elections.

The BJP veterans said the principal reason for the defeat in Bihar is the way the party has been emasculated in the last one year. They also targeted party leadership for saying that everyone is responsible for party's defeat.