Pressure mounts on BJP to review ties with JD(U)

Pressure mounted on BJP to review its ties with JD(U) in the wake of attack on Narendra Modi by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who hit back saying the train carnage in Godhra in 2002 and subsequent violence were the responsibility of the Gujarat government.

As BJP leaders from Bihar stepped up the attack on Kumar, party chief Rajnath Singh has convened a meeting of the Core Committee on Bihar in Delhi on April 18 to discuss the current situation.

Disclosing the convening of the meeting, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi termed Kumar's attack on Modi as "unfortunate". The BJP Parliamentary Board would take a call on the emerging situation at an appropriate time, he said in a statement without elaborating.

There have been demands from some leaders in Bihar that BJP should review its alliance with JD(U) and be ready to sacrifice about 20 Lok Sabha seats.

The core committee on Bihar comprises Modi, Bihar BJP President Mangal Pandey, BJP National Vice President C P Thakur, state ministers Nandkishore Yadav, Ashwani Choubey, MP Radha Mohan Singh and Nagendra Singh.

BJP's national leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Shahnawaz Hussain, all hailing from Bihar, would also attend crucial meeting.

Responding to BJP spokeperson MeenakshI Lekhi's critical remarks yesterday on his being part of the NDA government as Railway Minister during the Godhra train carnage and later, Kumar hit back saying the job of the Railway Ministry was to look after safety and not to deal with law and order which is the state's responsibility.

"The job of the Railway Ministry is to look after safety issues like derailment, collision, etc and not to deal with public order which is the responsibility of the state," Kumar told reporters here.

However, Rajnath Singh appeared keen on ensuring that the issue does not escalate when he told reporters in Delhi that two parties will sit together to discuss the issue.