NDA’S dinner diplomacy show of strength, but RLSP chief absent
PATNA: The dinner of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders on Thursday, the first since chief minister Nitish Kumar came back to the BJP fold in July 2017, turned into a show of strength with leaders of all constituent parties participating even as president of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), Upendra Kushwaha, also a Central minister, skipped the event.
Kushwaha, one of the first to demand discussion on distribution of seats for 2019 Lok Sabha elections, reportedly told Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai about his inability to attend due to “some urgent work” even as his party was represented by former Union minister Nagmani and other party leaders.
Senior leaders of constituents of the ruling NDA in Bihar — BJP, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) — were present, sending signal of unity to the opposition. But the much anticipated dinner diplomacy hosted by BJP was confined only to dinner, with no discussion on any issues raised by some parties of the alliance in recent past. The dinner was keenly watched following JD (U) seeking a prominent role in the Lok Sabha polls, and Nitish raising concern over some Central schemes.
Nitish, for the first time after returning to the Nda-fold, had sought special status for Bihar that entitles tax rebates and more money from the Central government.
“Bihar hasn’t got the special package. We are with the NDA for larger interest of the state. BJP has to get more responsible,” JD(U) leader Shyam Rajak said before the dinner while reiterating the party’s stand to contest from no less than 25 Lok Sabha seats. “If NDA wants to be benefit from Nitish’s clean image, it has to do justice to JD(U) and the chief minister’s work,” he said.
Bihar sends 40 MPS to the Lok Sabha and in the 2009 general elections, the JD(U) had contested from 25 seats while the rest had BJP candidates. In 2014, both contested separately, with JD(U) willing only two seats and the BJP getting 22.
The LJP and RLSP contested in alliance with the BJP and won six out of seven and three out of three seats they contested, respectively.
Nitish sat along with deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, Union minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, his son Chirag, BJP state president Nityanand Rai, Union minister Ravishankar Prasad, Radha Mohan Singh, Ashwini Chowbey and Ram Kripal Yadav. Nitish left without speaking to the media as other leaders followed suit.
Earlier in the day, NDA sources who did not wish to be named said Kushwaha was miffed over the projection of Nitish as the NDA’S face in Bihar and was unhappy with his growing influence in the NDA.
Secondly, the presence of MP Arun Kumar, who leads the dissident faction of the RLSP, has made Kushwaha uncomfortable. NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) alleged on Thursday that a key accused arrested in connection with a 2016 attack on the Nagrota army camp in Jammu had gone to Pakistan four times between 2015 and 2017 on a visa procured with the help of reference letters from top separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Ghani Bhat and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
The NIA also said that the accused, Mohammad Ashiq Baba, had met key Jaish-e-mohammad (JEM) commanders, including JEM chief Masood Azhar’s brother Rauf who was responsible for targeting the army camp, during one of his trips to Pakistan.
When asked if NIA would seek clarification from the separatist leaders about this development, an agency spokesman declined to comment but said, “the investigation is progressing well”.
Ashiq Baba was arrested on Tuesday, two days before home minister Rajnath Singh’s trip to Jammu and Kashmir at a time when a fresh moves are being made to talk to separatist Hurriyat leaders in the middle of a cessation of military operations during the holy month of Ramazan.
Geelani, Bhat and and Farooq did not respond to messages seeking comments. The November 2016 attack had resulted in the death of seven Indian army men and three suicide attackers.
The NIA statement said that Baba went to Pakistan by crossing the Wagah border in Punjab. “During his visits, he met with JEM commanders and took directions from them after getting clearance from a local ISI (Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence agency) agent. On his return, he received instructions on how and when to receive the group of terrorists (responsible for the attack),” the NIA statement said.
“Around a week prior to the attack, he and the other arrested terrorist Muneer (ul-hassan Qadri ) were given the GPS coordinates of the receiving point along the Samba sector highway as well as of the possible targets along the Nagrota army cantonment through whatsapp from their handlers in Pakistan. They were asked to recce these targets,” the statement added.
The statement further said that Ashiq, Muneer and a third accused, Tariq Ahmed Dar, finalised the receiving point and the target — the Officers’ Mess complex of 166 Medium Regiment at Nagrota. The statement said the three met with the three militants who attacked the camp a day before the operation.