Dissent in Bihar BJP over CM projection

Simmering dissent in the Bihar unit on BJP over who would lead the party in the 2015 Assembly polls came out into the open on Sunday when several senior leaders objected to a Union minister’s renewed suggestion that the polls would be fought under former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi’s leadership.

Union agriculture minister and Motihari MP Radha Mohan Singh, who had earlier set off a debate in the party by publicly projecting Mr Modi as the BJP’s CM candidate, said on Saturday that BJP would contest the Assembly polls under Mr Modi’s leadership because he ( Mr Modi) was “acceptable to all”. But the latest protests indicated that Mr Modi’s stature, despite still being arguably the tallest in the state unit, may have been dented by BJP’s poor show in the Assembly bypolls, for which Mr Modi had campaigned extensively.

Senior BJP leaders such as party national vicepresident C. P. Thakur and former minister Prem Kumar expressed surprise over Mr Modi’s name being projected by Mr Singh again and again. BJP sources said Mr Modi being an OBC leader, an influential section of the party consisting mainly of the upper- caste Bhumihar leaders was opposed to his becoming CM in the event of BJP winning a majority in the 2015 Assembly polls.

“There is a statutory body in the party, whose decisions are followed by everyone in the party. Statements should not be made on the street. There is a forum for every kind of opinion and decision,” said Mr Thakur, a prominent Bhumihar leader and former Union health minister. Mr Thakur said BJP’s parliamentary board would choose under whose leadership the polls would be fought.