JD(U) wants ouster of Fernandes, Bihar NDA in turmoil
Written By
Kay Benedict
| Updated:
Fernandes'derogatory remarks against his party colleagues Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav has plunged the NDA into turmoil.
NEW DELHI: George Fernandes appears to be writing the script for the disintegration of NDA.
A day after Lalu Prasad Yadav predicted that fissures between the JDU and the BJP could surface in Bihar also, Fernandes' derogatory remarks against his party colleagues-Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav-on Friday has plunged the NDA into turmoil.
Suspecting that Fernandes is shifting allegiance to the Samajwadi Party camp, the JDU top brass has decided to ask Atal Bihari Vajpayee to drop Fernandes as the convenor of NDA. They would take up the matter with LK Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh also, party sources told DNA on Friday.
The trigger was provided by Fernandes who on Friday dubbed Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav "autocrats" saying "both Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav were, are and will always be autocrats. But I have never spoken about reviving the Samata Party or resigning my Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha seat and contesting again," Fernandes told reporters in Patna.
"We are not going to lose sleep. The problem is for the BJP and the NDA. He is the NDA convenor and if he is found in the company of Mulayam Singh during the UP elections and giving the SP chief certificate of good governance (which Fernandes did when he shared dais with Yadav in Lucknow on June 25), they have a problem," said a senior JDU leader.
"If he revives the Samata Party, then also he cannot retain convenorship of NDA which he got as the president of JDU, the biggest ally of the BJP," he said.
Referring to Fernandes' objection to JDU's electoral tie up with the UP-based Apna Dal, party spokesperson Shambu Srivastav said the decision was taken by the national council and national executive of the party and nobody objected to the alliance.
This was Fernandes' third attack on Kumar and the Bihar government in the last one week. On Tuesday, the former defence minister said "nothing had changed in the state (Bihar) since the party had come to power 10 months ago and corruption still rules."
"Last year our dreams were fulfilled when we ousted the Laloo-Rabri duo from power. With a change in government people expected a lot. They have yet to get any relief," the NDA convenor said, adding, "It seems virtually nothing has changed on the law and order front; kidnapping goes on unchecked and there is no sign of any improvement on the economic front."
Laloo Yadav on Thursday had said, "The ties between the JDU and the BJP are under strain. See the statement of George Fernandes. I am not doing anything. I am only running trains. The aftershocks of the political tremor in Jharkhand will be felt very soon in Bihar." After the formation of the Bihar government, the Nitish-Sharad duo virtually took control of the party and in March Fernandes suffered a humiliating defeat in the JDU elections when Sharad Yadav was elected president.
A day after Lalu Prasad Yadav predicted that fissures between the JDU and the BJP could surface in Bihar also, Fernandes' derogatory remarks against his party colleagues-Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav-on Friday has plunged the NDA into turmoil.
Suspecting that Fernandes is shifting allegiance to the Samajwadi Party camp, the JDU top brass has decided to ask Atal Bihari Vajpayee to drop Fernandes as the convenor of NDA. They would take up the matter with LK Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh also, party sources told DNA on Friday.
The trigger was provided by Fernandes who on Friday dubbed Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav "autocrats" saying "both Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav were, are and will always be autocrats. But I have never spoken about reviving the Samata Party or resigning my Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha seat and contesting again," Fernandes told reporters in Patna.
"We are not going to lose sleep. The problem is for the BJP and the NDA. He is the NDA convenor and if he is found in the company of Mulayam Singh during the UP elections and giving the SP chief certificate of good governance (which Fernandes did when he shared dais with Yadav in Lucknow on June 25), they have a problem," said a senior JDU leader.
"If he revives the Samata Party, then also he cannot retain convenorship of NDA which he got as the president of JDU, the biggest ally of the BJP," he said.
Referring to Fernandes' objection to JDU's electoral tie up with the UP-based Apna Dal, party spokesperson Shambu Srivastav said the decision was taken by the national council and national executive of the party and nobody objected to the alliance.
This was Fernandes' third attack on Kumar and the Bihar government in the last one week. On Tuesday, the former defence minister said "nothing had changed in the state (Bihar) since the party had come to power 10 months ago and corruption still rules."
"Last year our dreams were fulfilled when we ousted the Laloo-Rabri duo from power. With a change in government people expected a lot. They have yet to get any relief," the NDA convenor said, adding, "It seems virtually nothing has changed on the law and order front; kidnapping goes on unchecked and there is no sign of any improvement on the economic front."
Laloo Yadav on Thursday had said, "The ties between the JDU and the BJP are under strain. See the statement of George Fernandes. I am not doing anything. I am only running trains. The aftershocks of the political tremor in Jharkhand will be felt very soon in Bihar." After the formation of the Bihar government, the Nitish-Sharad duo virtually took control of the party and in March Fernandes suffered a humiliating defeat in the JDU elections when Sharad Yadav was elected president.