After spat with JD(U), BJP smokes peace pipe

After the war of words with JD(U), BJP today spoke in a conciliatory tone, saying the "crisis" was "unfortunate" and expressed confidence that the alliance will remain intact.
In clear signs that BJP wants to continue its ties with ally JD-U, BJP President Rajnath Singh today said keeping the NDA coalition in tact is a prime concern for his party and attempts will be made to resolve all issues with partners.
In an interaction with journalists at the Indian Women's Press Corps here, Singh praised and defended Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi but appeared to give primacy to keeping NDA partners together.

While JD-U has bluntly told BJP that Modi - who faces the taint of post-Godhra 2002 riots in Gujarat - is not acceptable as the Prime Ministerial candidate, Shiv Sena too expressed its reservations.
Insisting that BJP does not favour losing its allies, Singh said in reply to a question: "I believe that we (JD-U and BJP) will contest the 2014 elections together. Things have not become so bad. We will discuss the issues with them."
"The crisis (due to differences with JD-U) is unfortunate but BJP would not want an ally to go away. We will sit together and sort out the differences," he said.

BJP also sought to put behind the tit-for-tat with JD(U) over the Godhra incident that had taken place when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was the Railway Minister.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the incident was the "collective responsibility" of the Union Cabinet led by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"We had BJP government in Gujarat...The incident was unfortunate. There had been several debates on the issue. There is no need to reopen it again," Hussain told reporters.