Rebel Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates fighting on a Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) ticket in the Bihar Assembly polls blame senior leaders in the BJP for their rebellion and their seeking of tickets from other parties to contest, stating that the BJP in the State was being “pawned” to the Janata Dal-United (JD-U).
The expulsion had been threatened by senior leaders once it had become clear that the LJP would be fighting separately from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and was being approached by BJP candidates whose Assembly seats had gone to the JD(U) in the NDA seat distribution. Senior BJP leaders like Rajendra Singh, Usha Vidyarthi and Rameshwar Chaurasia moved to the LJP and on Monday, they along with six others, were expelled from the party.
Speaking to The Hindu over the telephone, Mr. Chaurasia, who is fighting from Sasaram on an LJP ticket, said that he doesn’t hold a grudge against the party as such but only towards certain leaders. “It is an open secret that there are certain leaders in the BJP who have pawned the party (party ‘ko girwi rakha ha’) to Nitish Kumar as it suits them. All the people who have sought tickets from the LJP have done so as those seats, despite being our traditional stronghold, were given away to the JD(U) in the seat distribution,” he said. While Mr. Chaurasia said he was referring to Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi as one such leader, “there are others who are with him,” he added. He also said that the BJP’s threat to go to the Election Commission (EC) if the LJP candidates used the image of Prime Minister Modi in their posters was “silly”. “We will follow EC guidelines on all these issues. Besides, Prime Minister Modi belongs to all,” he said.
Mr. Chaurasia and Mr. Rajendra Singh were surprise rebels as both have been rooted in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-BJP organisation in the State for years, with the former also being given charge of the Kashi and Kanpur sambhag (division) during the 2014 general elections, reporting directly to then BJP general secretary in charge of U.P., Amit Shah. Mr. Chaurasia, along with Union Minister Giriraj Singh, were also among those who regularly celebrated the birthday of then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in Patna, in defiance of Nitish Kumar, who had managed to persuade the BJP to not allow Mr. Modi to campaign in successive Assembly polls in Bihar while in alliance with the party.
The expulsion, indeed the seeking of LJP tickets, once more focuses attention on the two streams of thought within Bihar BJP — one, which is comfortable with the alliance with the JD(U), where despite the BJP having a better strike rate in terms of electoral victories vis a vis seats fought, the JD(U) is given a larger share of tickets; and the second stream that has protested this ‘big brother attitude’ of the JD(U). Despite the fact that both the parties are more or less fighting on an equal number of seats this time around, ceding of specific seats has led to this rebellion, with the rebels stating that their less than cosy equations with certain Bihar BJP leaders has led to the deliberate ceding of these seats.
The LJP’s decision to part ways with the NDA while remaining friendly with the BJP and fighting polls only in seats where the JD(U) is contesting was expected to help the BJP. The anger of the JD(U) at this supposed ploy, and the BJP’s determination to pacify its ally, has meant disciplinary action against the rebels. The matter has further complicated an already complicated caste pitch in the State. Senior BJP leaders admit that while Mr. Chaurasia may yet lose the polls, while others, like Mr. Singh and Anil Kumar fighting on an LJP ticket from Vikram, may win. Post-poll, the BJP may have to pay attention to whoever is left standing in this, a wholly unasked for face-off.
