Patna:
Stung by JD(U)'s decision to break away from NDA, BJP on Sunday slammed the erstwhile ally for insulting the landslide mandate given to the coaltion in the 2010 Assembly polls and called for a Bihar bandh on June 18 to protest against the 'deceit'.
"The unprovoked and unilateral decision of the JD(U) to split from the NDA is a gross insult to a landslide mandate given to the coalition government by the people of Bihar in 2010 assembly polls...the development is unfortunate and what the JD(U) has done can be described as deceit to the voters and us," senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi told reporters.
"We fully abided by the mantra of coalition dharma and did nothing in the past seven years to create any obstacle in the path of smooth functioning of the government... yet the JD(U) has decided to walk out from the NDA in an opportunistic manner without any provocation," he said.
The JD(U)'s parting of ways with the BJP-led NDA after the 17-year partnership has to be described as a 'black chapter' in the political history of Bihar in a long long time, Modi said.
Stating that the BJP has taken the JD(U)'s split from the NDA as breach of its trust as well of the voters, he said that the saffron party has decided to call for 'Bihar bandh' on June 18 to protest against the opportunistic conduct of the former alliance partner and to appeal to the people to take a revenge on the former for its 'deceit' in the next general elections.
All essential services and small vehicles will be allowed to ply on the road during the day-long bandh on Wednesday next and urged the party workers to observe protest in a peaceful manner, Modi said.
Modi launched a scathing attack on Kumar for treating the NDA's landslide victory in the last Assembly polls as his own and said he should have instead resigned as the NDA's chief minister and sought election as the JD(U) legislature party leader before staking claim to that post.
"The landslide mandate in the 2010 Assembly polls neither belonged to the BJP nor to the JD(U), but collectively to the NDA for good governance, improvement of law and order situation and development during the first term," Modi said.
Under the circumstances, morality demands that Kumar should have resigned first before staking claim to form the next government as JD(U) legislature party leader.
"But he did nothing of that sort and wants to run the government for nearly half of the term on the mandate of the NDA," Modi said.
He also found fault with Kumar for wooing the minorities after parting company with the BJP by re-discovering his secular credentials and said that his party too had backed to the hilt all pro-minority development and welfare schemes initiated by the NDA government since 2005.
The senior BJP leader also took exception to the chief minister and the JD(U) finding fault with his party for playing communal politics and regretted that the erstwhile ally did not find anything communal about the party during the 17-year-long association.
"It is regrettable that the political parties have been using secularism and communalism as a tool of convenience for perks of power," Modi lamented.
"So long as they (JD(U) and other parities) find it convenient to do business with us, they have no problem with our ideology, but they waste no time in harping on our communal credentials when we become dispensable," he said.
Modi claimed that there were hardly any political party which can call itself secular as most of them have done business with us at some point of time - be it the communists, RJD or others.
Modi also attacked the JD(U) for defending its decision to split from the NDA on the ground of the elevation of a particular leader in his party.
"Till recently, the chief minister himself has been saying that Modi's appointment is an internal matter of the BJP," he said asking Nitish Kumar to explain how the relationship soured over the last four-five days when there was no provocation from the BJP's side.
Hazarding a guess, Modi went on to explain, "Perhaps the JD(U) has become restive with the Gujarat chief minister's rise as a potential prime ministerial candidate and fearing that his ascendancy will cut into their vote banks given Modi's humble socio-economic background and his ever-improving stature."
Modi also attacked the chief minister for dictating terms to the BJP on its internal party matters and said that no one has a right to do so and "we too have never dictated terms with others at any point of time".
The NDA was formed on the agreement among the alliance partners on the Common Minimum Programme, both at the Centre and in Bihar, he said, adding, that the BJP never deviated from the contours of the CMP, but the JD(U) has done so and objected to the Gujarat Chief Minister's elevation before
snapping ties.
On the BJP's strategy in the state legislature where Nitish Kumar will seek to prove majority on June 19, the former deputy chief minister said his party would not seek to destabilise the JD(U) government during the remaining 30-month term, but will definitely present its 'deceit' before the
people.
Modi also defended the boycott of the emergency cabinet meeting by the BJP ministers and said that there was no point in participating in such a meeting under the vitiated atmosphere in which the JD(U) leaders were spewing venom on the BJP and its popular leader Narendra Modi.
"What was the need for the BJP ministers to attend the cabinet meet when the alliance was over for all practical purposes going by the activities of the JD(U) leaders, including the chief minister?" he wondered.
Modi also took a dig at Kumar for convening the cabinet meeting on a Sunday when there was no pressing agenda and said it was for the second time during his over three-decade political career that a cabinet meeting or the state legislature has been convened on Sunday.
