Two days after party leader Pawan Varma sent him a stinging two-page letter asking for his “ideological clarity on the electoral tie-up with the BJP for the coming Delhi elections”, JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday broke his silence to say, “if he [Mr Varma] wants to go to some other party, he has my wishes”.
Mr Varma later said he would continue to speak what he “believes good of the country and for the party”.
On December 21, Mr. Varma,said in his letter that he was “deeply perplexed” over the development of ties with the BJP beyond Bihar. He ‘reminded’ Mr. Kumar of his confession to him, on more than one occasion, about his “grave apprehensions” of the BJP-RSS combine. He also mentioned about the “private conversations” he had had with Mr. Kumar on ties with the BJP.
“He [Mr Varma] is a learned man for whom I’ve a lot of respect, even if he may not have the same for me. But this is not the way to share such things in public… it is surprising…he says I’ve told him certain things in private…what if I should tell you what he had told me?”, Mr Kumar told journalists. “if he wants to go to some other party which is his decision… he has my wishes”, Mr Kumar said while coming out of a function organised at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary.
However, an hour later, Mr Varma responded to Mr. Kumar’s statement and told journalists that he would decide his next course of action after getting response to his letter from Mr. Kumar. “Awaiting reply of my letter to Nitish Kumar… will decide future course of action after that but I’ll continue to speak what I believe is right, what is good for the country and the party”, he said in Delhi.
Though he was in Patna on Wednesday to participate in a function, Mr. Varma chose not to meet Mr. Kumar.
Mr. Kumar said, “If he has any confusion he should have put it before me or at the party forum but there should not be any confusion in anyone’s mind about how the JD(U) as a party runs”.
Mr. Varma said in his letter, “In my first meeting with you in Patna in August 2012 you had spoken to me at length and with conviction on why Narendra Modi and his policies are inimical for the country… when you were leading the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ you had openly made a call for RSS Mukt Bharat. I remember your confession to me in private how the current leadership in BJP party has humiliated you. You maintained on more than one occasion, that the BJP is leading India into a ‘dangerous space’.
Action likely
A JD(U) source told The Hindu that Mr. Kumar may take action against Mr. Varma and Prashant Kishor, who have of late been hammering him with tweets and letters, on January 27, when he would meet party leaders at his official residence, 1 Anne Marg.
State JD(U) chief Basistha Narayan Singh had said he would urge Mr. Kumar to take action against these party leaders.
