Cracks in Bihar Grand Alliance Come to the Fore

PATNA: The ongoing war of words among senior leaders of the newly-formed grand alliance took a new turn on Friday, when senior Congress leader Sadanand Singh demanded  announcement of “a common minimum programme” by the incumbent JD(U) Government.

Currently the RJD and the Congress have extended support to the government.

The Congress leaders were annoyed after Nitish Kumar’s recent campaign against party candidates in Haryana though the party has only four MLAs -- a marginal political force -- in the state.

After the exit poll prediction in favour of the BJP in Haryana and Maharastra, JDU state president Bashisth Narayan Singh said: “The Congress failed to read the writings on the wall”.

Only few days back, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had questioned the authority of Nitish to lead the alliance.

“Currently, Nitish is not the leader of the grand alliance. He is like any other senior leader of the alliance,” Singh had said.

He had also claimed that on the basis of the Lok Sabha poll results, the RJD is larger than the JD(U) in Bihar.

The elections to the state Assembly is only a year away. So there is political pressure on the JD(U) to give up some more seats to partners of the grand alliance.

Political observers feel that the anti-incumbency factor against the JD(U) Government and the Modi wave may cost them dearly.