Date:29/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/29/stories/2008082956101200.htm

National

Tension among ruling allies in Bihar, Orissa

Neena Vyas

Bharatiya Janata Party unhappy with the functioning of the bigger brother in coalition

Party leaders unhappy with Nitish Kumar for meeting Manmohan without them

Failure to arrest killers of VHP leader in Orissa

NEW DELHI: Tension has developed between the ruling allies in Orissa and Bihar for entirely different reasons. In both cases, the Bharatiya Janata Party which is the junior partner in the Biju Janata Dal-led government in Orissa and the Janata Dal (United)-led government in Bihar, is unhappy with the manner in which its bigger brother in the State has functioned.

While on the record BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “There is no question of withdrawing support from the BJP-led Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa,” he did not hide the party’s annoyance that five days after the murder of Lakshamananda and other inmates of his ashram the State government had not arrested the culprits. Privately, some BJP leaders and others in the Sangh Parivar are blaming the Patnaik government for not giving adequate security to Lakshmananda and his colleagues despite threats to his life.

In Bihar the party leaders are unhappy that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar came to the capital on Wednesday and met the Prime Minister to demand a relief package for Bihar to deal with the unprecedented floods caused by a breach in a dam on the Kosi river. Said a BJP activist: “Even Lalu Prasad [Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and Railways Minister] and Ram Vilas Paswan [Lok Jan Shakti president and Union Minister for Fertilisers] buried their differences and went together to meet the Prime Minister, but Mr. Nitish Kumar did not take along with him any BJP leader from the State or the Centre although the two parties are partners in government.”

Even senior BJP leaders admit that in Bihar the JD(U) has grown at the expense of the BJP. They have been blaming BJP deputy chief minister Sushil Modi for this state of affairs saying that he has not been protecting the party’s interests.

As for the continuing violence in Orissa, the BJP has virtually blamed it on the inability of the State government to catch the murderers of Lakshmananda. Party president Rajnath Singh has asked general secretary in-charge of Orissa affairs Vinay Katiyar to rush to Bhubaneswar to try and work out a peace formula with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists. Mr. Katiyar was himself a founding president of the Bajrang Dal and has a good equation with those two wings of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

All that the BJP has said officially on the Orissa violence is: “We do not support violence. We appeal for peace.” There has been no condemnation of the violence unleashed by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal on thousands of Christian tribals who have had to flee their homes.

“We want speedy apprehension of those responsible for Swami Lakshmananda’s murder,” Mr. Prasad said. Asked who should speedily apprehend the culprits as the BJP was itself part of the State government, Mr. Prasad said the police and the government should.

There were reports that the VHP wanted BJP ministers in the Patnaik government to resign. But on Thursday Mr. Prasad said categorically: “No BJP minister has resigned.”