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| Politics
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| No secularism tips please, says BJP |
| No secularism tips please, says BJP to Nitish Kumar; his party talks of possible split
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| INDIA
, 20-June-2012
5:1:53 AM |
| Nitish Kumar has been told by the BJP and its parent body that it doesn't need his advice on secularism, or who makes for a worthy Prime Minister. In response, the Bihar Chief Minister's party has warned that it's tempted to consider divorcing the BJP. Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United or JD(U) partners with the BJP in Bihar. It is also a senior member of the NDA coalition, which is led by the BJP.
The reason for the high-decibel quarrel is Gujarat Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi. Keen to check his prime ministerial aspirations, Mr Kumar made it clear yesterday that he will not accept Mr Modi as the NDA's candidate for Prime Minister. The Bihar Chief Minister did not name Mr Modi, but said a contender for PM must have "clean and secular" credentials. The communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 cast a long shadow over Mr Modi's political career, one he has not been able to escape. Today, Mr Kumar reminded the BJP after the Gujarat riots, and then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had wanted to remove Mr Modi after the riots, but was stopped by other BJP leaders.
The BJP's parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), spoke up for Mr Modi today. "Will Nitish decide what sort of person makes a good PM?" Mohan Bhagwat of the RSS asked."To keep alive the Hindutva ideology, the Hindu 'samaaj' (society) should come together. And the country should have a Prime Minister who believes in that ideology or propounds that view," he said. In Delhi, BJP leader Balbir Punj said, "We want to make it clear that we have not given the authority to anyone to give certificates of secularism to individuals with us within the BJP."
Mr Kumar's party didn't take that lying down. "There can be no compromise on secularism, or social justice, whether we remain in the government or not" warned Shivanand Tiwari, a leader from the JD(U). Mr Tiwari also reminded the BJP of its past.
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