JD(U) keeps BJP on tenterhooks over alliance

JD(U) today kept BJP on tenterhooks over its continuance in NDA with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying that his party is "concerned" about recent developments in the coalition and would take a call on them after discussing the matter within the party.
Kumar also said that it would be "good" if regional parties like JD(U), Trinamool Congress and BJD form a common front.
Kumar said, "L K Advani discussed some issues and said some things. We will discuss them in our meeting. We will take cognisance of these things...We will discuss all issues," he told reporters in Patna.
"Before that it is not proper for me to say anything. But we are concerned about the developments which have taken place in the last few days," Kumar said amidst rumblings in NDA over Narendra Modi's appointment as BJP's election campaign committee chief.

Asked about reports that JD(U) favoured the formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP federal front, he said, "(West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee had talked to me on the phone and her view is that Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Jharkhand have some common problems and we should think about them together. I have also said that these problems are common."
Kumar, who is also in touch with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, said, "If all of us together understand these problems and form a common front it would be good...This is at an initial stage and one should not speculate that a political front has been formed."

Meanwhile, former BJP President Nitin Gadkari, who is considered close to RSS, and party Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi drove to the residence of JD(U) President Sharad Yadav today morning. Advani had made a call to Yadav yesterday asking JD(U) to keep the alliance intact.
Sources, however, said there was "no positive indication" from the meeting during which Yadav mainly apprised BJP leaders about JD(U)'s concerns.
BJP President Rajnath Singh called up the Bihar Chief Minister today morning while senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi talked to Kumar last night.