Ruling allies in Bihar, JD(U), BJP, at loggerheads over Covid-19

At a time when there has been a sharp surge in Covid-19 cases in Bihar, the two ruling alliance partners in the state – the JD(U) and the BJP – are at daggers drawn over the methodology adopted to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Soon after the BJP president and party Lok Sabha MP, Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, questioned Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to impose night curfew, instead of weekend lockdown, the JD(U) deputed former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha to defend Nitish and slam Jaiswal.

Kushwaha, who recently joined the JD(U) and was appointed as MLC, besides being coronated as chairman of the JD(U) Parliamentary Board, asked Jaiswal “to exercise restraint as this was not the appropriate time to do politics in the name of Covid-19.”

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The BJP hit back at the newest aide of Nitish and deployed party legislator Samrat Choudhary, who is also a minister in the Nitish Cabinet, to assail Kushwaha.

“Kushwaha is the newest leader to have joined the JD (U). So he is giving statements to please his Boss,” said Choudhary, the Panchayati Raj Minister in Bihar. “The BJP is a ruling partner in the state. If the Bihar BJP chief has suggested something, it should be taken in the right spirit, rather than slamming him publicly,” averred Choudhary, defending his party president.

Jaiswal had questioned Nitish what purpose the night curfew would serve in the state where there has been no nightlife and people mostly remain indoors after 9 pm. But Nitish continued with his decision to impose night curfew in all the districts from 9 pm to 5 am, thereby drawing flak from the ruling ally.

The differences within the NDA again came to the fore when Nitish asked those working outside Bihar to return to their parent state at the earliest and promised the Bihar government would take care of them. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Sinha (also a senior BJP leader) appealed to those returning to Bihar to stay put and continue working in their respective States.

Meanwhile, Jaiswal said he has already made his reservations (on fighting Covid-19) public and was not interested in escalating the matter further.