The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership on Tuesday began a series of crucial internal meetings to find a way out of the political mess it finds itself in with the Bihar coalition partner, the Janata Dal (United), amid signs of a thaw in their frosty relationship.
Through the day, senior leaders from Bihar — who began trickling in here on being summoned by BJP president Nitin Gadkari — and central party leaders from the State met parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani. General secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi also had meetings with JD(U) president Sharad Yadav.
Late at night, after Mr. Gadkari returned here from a day-long visit to Rajasthan, a scheduled meeting with the Bihar unit's core group began. State BJP president C.P. Thakur, Mr. Sushil Modi, a couple of Ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, several State vice-presidents, general secretaries and other leaders as well as the central leaders from Bihar, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad and Shahnawaz Husain (Rajiv Pratap Rudy is abroad), were present.
Telephonic contact between Mr. Kumar and a senior BJP leader from Bihar and the BJP ensuring that its Ministers attended a Cabinet meeting in Patna on Tuesday are the first signs that both sides may be willing to fill the cracks in the alliance.
The distinct impression was the party was working towards a resolution of the crisis. A senior leader said: “Divorce is not at all advisable. We want to continue the relationship, but with self-esteem.” No hasty decision should be expected, a central party leader added, pointing out that the stakes were high for both the JD(U) and the BJP.
Another senior BJP leader admitted that mistakes were made on both sides. “If [Gujarat Chief Minister] Narendra Modi's publicity blitz during the Patna national executive committee meeting was unnecessary, [Bihar Chief Minister] Mr. Nitish Kumar also over-reacted [in returning Rs. 5 crore sent by Gujarat towards flood relief].”
The mood in the BJP was that it wanted to find an “honourable” way out of the chain of events that led to the souring of relations with its partner of 15 years.
