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JD-U, Sena to join hands against Modi in Gujarat
Allies Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena will field candidates against the BJP in the forthcoming Gujarat Assembly election, the third under Narendra Modi as Chief Minister.
It will not be for the first that that these two parties would test electoral waters in the western State, but the expected presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in electioneering will spice up the campaign.
In 2007, the JD(U) got 3.68 per cent votes in 35 Assembly seats its contested, while Sena ended up with nearly one per cent votes in the 38 constituencies it contested.
Modi and Kumar have not been in best of terms and the latter has, through several newspaper interviews, communicated his reservation to the Gujarat CM being considered as NDA’s prime ministerial candidate. Even Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray stirred up a hornet’s nest on Sunday in backing Lok Sabha’s Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj for the top job.
“BJP is the largest party in the NDA. We will go for alliance with the BJP wherever it wants us, barring Gujarat,” JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav told reporters. Yadav, who is also the NDA convener, did not elaborate on why his party was making that exception — of not having an alliance with the BJP in Gujarat.
“Both of us (Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar) have campaigned there earlier also. We will do it this time as well,” Yadav replied to queries on the possibilities of the Bihar CM campaigning in Gujarat. Incidentally, Kumar did not allow the BJP to invite Modi for campaigning in 2010 Bihar Assembly elections for obvious electoral reasons.
In Mumbai, Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut said his party will field candidates in the BJP-ruled State. “Shiv Sena will contest the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election. We are making preparations in this regard,” he told reporters there.
The announcement to contest poll in Gujarat comes a day after Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray said BJP senior leader Sushma Swaraj will make a “great choice” for the PM’s post.
Sharad Yadav, however, sought to steer clear of Thackeray’s remarks. “Bal Thackeray is a senior person. Many other persons have also given statements on this issue. It is getting too much now. The PM’s post seems to have become a pakodi (snack),” he said. Yadav said the general elections will happen in 2014 and a decision on who should be projected as NDA’s PM candidate will be taken then. The BJP also refused to comment on Thackeray’s “Sushma as PM” remarks.
Senior leader Arun Jaitley said his party will decide on it along with its allies at the time of election. Incidentally, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari had told reporters last month that the BJP will consult Nitish Kumar and other before deciding the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate for 2014.
Allies Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena will field candidates against the BJP in the forthcoming Gujarat Assembly election, the third under Narendra Modi as Chief Minister.
It will not be for the first that that these two parties would test electoral waters in the western State, but the expected presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in electioneering will spice up the campaign.
In 2007, the JD(U) got 3.68 per cent votes in 35 Assembly seats its contested, while Sena ended up with nearly one per cent votes in the 38 constituencies it contested.
Modi and Kumar have not been in best of terms and the latter has, through several newspaper interviews, communicated his reservation to the Gujarat CM being considered as NDA’s prime ministerial candidate. Even Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray stirred up a hornet’s nest on Sunday in backing Lok Sabha’s Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj for the top job.
“BJP is the largest party in the NDA. We will go for alliance with the BJP wherever it wants us, barring Gujarat,” JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav told reporters. Yadav, who is also the NDA convener, did not elaborate on why his party was making that exception — of not having an alliance with the BJP in Gujarat.
“Both of us (Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar) have campaigned there earlier also. We will do it this time as well,” Yadav replied to queries on the possibilities of the Bihar CM campaigning in Gujarat. Incidentally, Kumar did not allow the BJP to invite Modi for campaigning in 2010 Bihar Assembly elections for obvious electoral reasons.
In Mumbai, Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut said his party will field candidates in the BJP-ruled State. “Shiv Sena will contest the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election. We are making preparations in this regard,” he told reporters there.
The announcement to contest poll in Gujarat comes a day after Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray said BJP senior leader Sushma Swaraj will make a “great choice” for the PM’s post.
Sharad Yadav, however, sought to steer clear of Thackeray’s remarks. “Bal Thackeray is a senior person. Many other persons have also given statements on this issue. It is getting too much now. The PM’s post seems to have become a pakodi (snack),” he said. Yadav said the general elections will happen in 2014 and a decision on who should be projected as NDA’s PM candidate will be taken then. The BJP also refused to comment on Thackeray’s “Sushma as PM” remarks.
Senior leader Arun Jaitley said his party will decide on it along with its allies at the time of election. Incidentally, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari had told reporters last month that the BJP will consult Nitish Kumar and other before deciding the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate for 2014.
