By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said it will not accept any condition from the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on keeping its leaders Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi out of campaigning during assembly polls in Bihar later this year.
“As per media reports, about all these demands by the JD-U… Nobody has put any conditions and we will not accept any conditions set by JD-U. We will decide who will campaign in Bihar,” senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here.
The BJP is a junior partner in the JD(U)-led government in Bihar.
“It is unfortunate and we are very hurt by him (Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar) returning the Rs.5 crore to Gujarat. The money was not Modi’s, it was from the people of Gujarat for the people of Bihar,” Naidu added.
Upset over advertisements featuring him along with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and referring to the aid provided by Gujarat during the 2008 Kosi floods, Nitish Kumar June 19 returned the Rs.5 crore that had been given as aid.
BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told IANS that there has not been any official word on JD-U’s demands as to who should or should not campaign in Bihar for the assembly elections due in October.
However, Hussain added that though the party wishes that the alliance continue, it is not willing to compromise on its self-respect.
“BJP wishes for the alliance to continue but not compromising on the party’s self respect. Our state party leaders have made this point clear to the president (Nitin Gadkari) and decision on who should and should not campaign in Bihar is for us (BJP) to decide,” Hussain told IANS.
“There will be another meeting tomorrow led by our president after he returns from Nagpur, we will also meet with the JD-U and then take a call… Our immediate agenda is that a decision should be taken,” Hussain added.
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed the JD-U demands and told IANS: “We don’t need anyone’s advice and on the alliance we are yet to take a final decision. Our stand is very very clear. It is our decision who will campaign.”