C.P. Thakur on Friday stepped down as Bihar unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Party following a row over seat-sharing between the BJP and the Janata Dal (United) in the Assembly elections.
Dr. Thakur is said to be unhappy over the Digha seat being given to the JD (U) and also miffed at his son, Vivek, not securing nomination to contest in Bankipur. Earlier, both father and son issued statements that the BJP would retain Digha and Bankipur.
“I have faxed my resignation to BJP president Nitin Gadkari. There is no point in continuing in this capacity [as State chief] as my views are ignored in important decisions,” Dr. Thakur told journalists outside his residence here, adding his supporters urged him not to put up with any further apathy shown by the party.
Later, in the evening, JD (U) national president Sharad Yadav and senior BJP leader Syed Shahanawaz Hussain rushed to his residence, holding an impromptu meeting in a bid to assuage the senior leader.
On Thursday, after weeks of furious bargaining, the BJP formally declared that Digha would be given to the JD (U), while Mr. Nitin Navin, the BJP's sitting MLA in that constituency, would be shifted to Bankipur.
Post-delimitation, Digha and Bankipur, carved out of Patna West and Patna East respectively, have been highly contentious with the JD (U) staking its claim on Digha and projecting its sitting legislator from Masaurhi, Punam Devi. This in spite of the fact that the seats are Kayastha-dominated BJP bastions.
According to BJP sources, the sabre-rattling over Bankipur has to be seen in the larger context of the struggle for supremacy within the party's Bihar unit between the Bhumihar lobby led by Dr. Thakur and the OBC group led by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
Political observers say the development will damage the BJP's Bhumihar vote-bank, a sizable portion of which may gravitate towards the Congress.
In fact, a large crowd of Bhumihar BJP workers from Bankipur raised anti-Sushil Modi slogans minutes after Dr. Thakur announced his resignation.
Further, the Bhumihar lobby is reportedly angry over the fact that the pro- Sushil Kumar Modi group, which includes the former Rajput State president Radha Mohan Singh and Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav, has had a major say in deciding the names of the 100 candidates named so far.
“It is the Modi group, which has consistently swerved towards the JD (U), that has been instrumental in handing Digha over to them,” said a Bhumihar BJP leader, requesting anonymity.
Before leaving for campaigning in Katihar and Purnia districts, Mr. Modi told reporters: “Digha has been a traditional BJP seat and we would have wished to secure it…while we have tried our level best to bag it, one has to make certain compromises in a coalition arrangement.”
Mr. Modi refused to comment on the issue after his return.
While the Bhumihar lobby is favourably disposed to the gesture made by Dr. Thakur, other leaders are concerned that a negative message of internal disunity will damage the party just before the polls.
