PATNA: The JD-U is said to have started working out ways silently for a change in the alliance with the BJP in Bihar. The ruling party is irked at the Centre’s denial to conduct the enumeration of OBCs as part of the national census of 2021.
The growing political differences between the JD-U and BJP have put the NDA in a tight spot in Bihar. “Whenever a senior JD-U leader speaks anything on any issue, he speaks with Nitish’s tacit consent. On Monday, Vijendra Yadav’s reaction to the long-pending demand for a special status for Bihar speaks a lot about the growing political strain between the JD-U and BJP,” a senior party leader said.
Earlier, Nitish had sought the status of a central university for Patna University from the PM, who diplomatically rejected the demand saying that all assistances would be made to help it develop itself as the University of Excellence.
Tensions between the BJP and JD-U emerged when the BJP advocated for the implementation of Uttar Pradesh model of population policy. To this, Nitish had said: “Population can’t be controlled only by enacting a law. We’ve seen that promoting education among girls is yielding positive results on population check.” Soon after this, political unease cropped up on the issue of Pegasus row after Nitish joined the chorus of opposition demanding a probe into it.
The BJP leaders — right from the grassroots level to the top — took Nitish’s reactions in an extremely unacceptable way in the alliance. In recent times, the differences between these two parties were also seen on the contracts awarded to the relatives of Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad in the Nal Jal Yojna in Katihar.