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| Is Nitish Kumar taking on Narendra |
| Is Nitish Kumar taking on Narendra Modi? His party will fight BJP in Gujarat
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| INDIA
, 10-September-2012
3:54:39 AM |
| In the elections in Gujarat, the BJP will find itself in competition in 100 seats against its own ally, Nitish Kumar's party, the Janata Dal United or JD(U).
"There are some districts where we will contest on our own," said the JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav, in what will be seized by many as the latest installment of tension in an increasingly-unsteady partnership. In the last elections in Gujarat, the JD(U) contested 30 seats. This time, it will put up its own candidates in 100 constituencies, and the Bihar chief minister will campaign for some of them in Gujarat. While he visited the state during the last election as well, this time around, his trip will be seen as loaded with political complexities.
In Bihar, Mr Kumar runs the government with the BJP, but his thinly-veiled opposition to Narendra Modi, his counterpart in Gujarat, has been peaking lately amid discussions about the next general election. Mr Modi, who is up for re-election soon, has prime ministerial ambitions and is often seen as one of the most popular leaders of the BJP. In a series of interviews, Mr Kumar has said that his party will not support any candidate for PM who does not have secular values. On Mr Modi's watch, the Gujarat riots of 2002 ravaged the state, killing 1200 people, most of them Muslims.
In the last state and general elections in Bihar, Mr Kumar made it clear to the BJP that Mr Modi could not be brought in for rallies and campaigns. 18% of Bihar's population is Muslim, a vote-bank loyal to Mr Kumar.
The BJP has vacillated between talking tough with Mr Kumar, and suggesting that his opinion will be taken into account before the party decides on its choice for prime minister. While some leaders have said Mr Kumar's advise and assessment of secularism is not needed, BJP president Nitin Gdkari told NDTV recently that the party has not yet decided on its nominee for Prime Minister.
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