Decision not taken on Modi campaigning in Bihar: BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday refuted reports that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will not campaign for the party in Bihar due to the state’s chief minister Nitish Kumar’s opposition to it.
Modi’s name had not figured in the list of star campaigners for the BJP in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls, which was submitted to the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday.
Nitish Kumar?s (JD-U) firm opposition to Modi was constructed to be the reason behind the BJP decision. The two parties are in power in a coalition government in the eastern state.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain on Saturday clarified that no names of chief ministers of any BJP-ruled state had been included in the list.
“There is a provision where we can invite any of our chief ministers to campaign for elections and a separate prior intimation at short notice can be sent to the Election Commission,” Hussain said.
The list, submitted by the party at the EC, includes 40 prominent BJP leaders like LK Advani, Nitin Gadkari, M M Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ananth Kumar.
“The list the BJP had submitted to the Election Commission is for the purpose of informing the poll panel that if helicopters are used by them, the expenses for it would not be added to that of the candidate,” Hussain said.
Avoiding a direct reply to a poser if BJP will keep away Modi from Bihar, he said, “BJP will decide who will campaign for the party. We can always add or remove some of the names in our list of campaigners.”
The troubles between the two parties had emerged in June when Kumar had taken serious umbrage over a BJP advertisement during a meeting in Patna, showing Kumar holding hands with Modi.
Modi?s pro-Hindutva image could have a negative impact on Kumar?s secular image and fearing erosion of minority votes, the Bihar chief minister had distanced himself from his Gujarat counterpart.
The BJP is likely to launch its campaign from October 9 or 10 in Bihar.
Bihar goes to poll in six phases from October 21 to November 20 for its 243 assembly seats in which an estimated 5.50 crore electorate would exercise their franchise.
