Discord in JD(U) over BJP alliance; Pavan Varma writes to Nitish Kumar

The electoral pact with BJP in Delhi has triggered opposition in JD(U) with senior leader Pavan K Varma questioning party supremo and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as to how this alliance was formed given the latter's "personal view" that the saffron party was leading India into a "dangerous space" and the outrage against the "divisive" CAA-NPR-NRC scheme.

Shooting off a letter to Kumar, which was posted on Twitter, a "deeply perplexed" Varma referred to his conversations he had with the JD(U) chief as his "personal view" and spoke about the saffron party "destroying" institutions and the need for regrouping of democratic and socialist forces for which he assigned a senior leader.

Seeking "ideological clarity", he said there was an "urgent need to harmonise what the party's Constitution says, what the leader of the party feels in private and what actions the party takes in public".

His letter came as JD(U) is set to fight two Assembly seats in Delhi in alliance with BJP while Akali Dal, the saffron party's electoral ally in Delhi for long had announced that it will not be fighting the polls over differences on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Varma, who has earlier voiced his opposition against the CAA, NRC, and National Population Register (NPR), said Nitish had spoken "at length and with conviction" to him in 2012 itself about on why "(now Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and his policies are inimical for the country". He also recalled that Nitish had given a call for 'RSS-Mukt Bharat (RSS-free India).

He said, "confusion arises from the fact that even after you changed tracks and aligned with the BJP in 2017, your private apprehensions regarding the BJP did not change. For instance, I remember you confessing to me in private how the current leadership in the BJP has humiliated you. You maintained more than one occasion, that the BJP is leading India into a dangerous space."

"If these are your real views, I fail to understand how the JD(U) is now extending its alliance with the BJP beyond Bihar, when even long-standing allies of the BJP, like the Akali Dal, have refused to do so. This is especially so at a time when the BJP, through the CAA-NPR-NRC combine, has embarked on a massive socially divisive agenda," Varma said.

Referring to the Delhi coalition, he said it would be the first time in recent times that the JD(U) is broadening and extending its association with the BJP through a formal electoral alliance beyond Bihar.

Varma and party Vice President Prashant Kishore, whose name do not appear in the JD(U) list of star campaigners for Delhi have been vocal against the CAA and NRC. Kishore's IPAC also advice AAP on election strategy and this is another reason why he was omitted from the list.