Two days before the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ally in Bihar, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, declared its rebellion on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought to convince party president Upendra Kushwaha to shelve his ambition to become state chief minister.
At an hour-long meeting at his 7 Race Course Road residence on Friday, Modi had tried to placate Kushwaha, who serves as a minister of state for Human Resource Development, said people familiar with the situation.
However, the two-day conference of the RLSP executive that began on Saturday in Hajipur in Bihar rejected Modi’s overtures. A party statement on Sunday said that Kushwaha had been chosen as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for state elections due in a few months.
NDA is stunned
The announcement has sent shockwaves through the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Not only does it indicate that the BJP is likely to face some hard bargaining with its allies in Bihar, it is also being seen as an indication that neither Modi nor BJP president Amit Shah is able to exercise control over the NDA constituents in the crucial state.
Modi's conversation with Kushwaha was first in a series of meetings the Prime Minister has planned with the BJP’s allies in Bihar, party officials said. Modi will soon be meeting Ramvilas Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party is another key NDA constituent, they said.
For the last couple of weeks, the NDA has come under strain from its Bihar allies on the issue of seat-sharing. While the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party has demanded 40 seats, Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party wants to field candidates for 65 of the state’s 243 seats. The BJP is said to be planning to contest 160-170 constituencies by itself. But it is under pressure to also leave some seats for the outfits led by expelled Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Pappu Yadav and former state Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in case it wants to accommodate them in the NDA.
Shah's control under cloud
The Rashtriya Lok Samata Party's announcement has prompted BJP insiders to wonder whether Amit Shah has lost his ability to handle the party’s relationships in Bihar.
Shah, who is credited with being instrumental in the party’s victory in 71 out of the 80 Uttar Pradesh seats during the Lok Sabha elections, appears to be flailing in Bihar. Not only does he seem unable to keep the BJP’s allies in line, several camps have emerged even in his own party, each trying to project its own leader as the chief ministerial candidate.
In fact, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party announcement about Kushwaha as its chief ministerial candidate was made on a day that Shah was in Patna to lead Modi’s yoga campaign and to finalise the BJP’s election strategy.
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At an hour-long meeting at his 7 Race Course Road residence on Friday, Modi had tried to placate Kushwaha, who serves as a minister of state for Human Resource Development, said people familiar with the situation.
However, the two-day conference of the RLSP executive that began on Saturday in Hajipur in Bihar rejected Modi’s overtures. A party statement on Sunday said that Kushwaha had been chosen as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for state elections due in a few months.
NDA is stunned
The announcement has sent shockwaves through the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Not only does it indicate that the BJP is likely to face some hard bargaining with its allies in Bihar, it is also being seen as an indication that neither Modi nor BJP president Amit Shah is able to exercise control over the NDA constituents in the crucial state.
Modi's conversation with Kushwaha was first in a series of meetings the Prime Minister has planned with the BJP’s allies in Bihar, party officials said. Modi will soon be meeting Ramvilas Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party is another key NDA constituent, they said.
For the last couple of weeks, the NDA has come under strain from its Bihar allies on the issue of seat-sharing. While the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party has demanded 40 seats, Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party wants to field candidates for 65 of the state’s 243 seats. The BJP is said to be planning to contest 160-170 constituencies by itself. But it is under pressure to also leave some seats for the outfits led by expelled Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Pappu Yadav and former state Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in case it wants to accommodate them in the NDA.
Shah's control under cloud
The Rashtriya Lok Samata Party's announcement has prompted BJP insiders to wonder whether Amit Shah has lost his ability to handle the party’s relationships in Bihar.
Shah, who is credited with being instrumental in the party’s victory in 71 out of the 80 Uttar Pradesh seats during the Lok Sabha elections, appears to be flailing in Bihar. Not only does he seem unable to keep the BJP’s allies in line, several camps have emerged even in his own party, each trying to project its own leader as the chief ministerial candidate.
In fact, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party announcement about Kushwaha as its chief ministerial candidate was made on a day that Shah was in Patna to lead Modi’s yoga campaign and to finalise the BJP’s election strategy.
