The Hindu – Modi’s strategy: a new NDA minus Nitish

Darshan Desai

Days after making a political point by having a range of regional leaders attend his swearing-in, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi once again reached for a larger national profile by being the only chief minister to speak on national affairs at the NDC meeting on Friday.

Recent praise from union minister Praful Patel of the Nationalist Congress Party, a UPA partner, has only helped Modi.

In Mumbai on December 28, Patel said: “Modi was successful in gaining trust of the people. Modi won because of the work he has done,” Praful Patel said.

At the NDC meeting, Modi held forth on “policy paralysis and lack of leadership” at the Centre. He said the world was looking at India for development but the country was pessimistic, even as he presented Gujarat as a model of growth.

Sources said Modi’s gameplan is to create an NDA minus the sulking partner Janata Dal-United and its Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Besides Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK, Om Prakash Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal, Ramdas Athawale of Republican Party of India and Raj Thackeray of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena attended his swearing-in — none of them is an NDA partner at the moment.

Overtures are also being made to Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal and Asom Gana Parishad, who are former NDA allies.

The Shiromani Akali Dal is still with the NDA and so are Shiv Sena, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and other smaller parties.

Modi simply ignored Nitish Kumar at the NDC meeting, held just a day after his glittering swearing-in event that the JD-U boycotted. He went around greeting everyone including Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, and congratulated Congress veteran Virbhadra Singh for his huge victory in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.

When mediapersons asked him if he would not meet Nitish pointing to where he was sitting, Modi only thanked them for drawing his attention.

Praful Patel’s statement here is significant despite the fact that the NCP did not attend Modi’s swearing-in though concerted efforts were made to get veteran leader Sharad Pawar there. Addressing party workers in Mumbai, Patel asserted, “In Gujarat, we had a tie-up with Congress to avoid division of secular votes. However, the Congress put up candidates in all the seats NCP contested. A review should be done to find out who is responsible for the defeat in Gujarat.

NCP had contested nine seats in the Assembly elections and its candidates won in two constituencies.

“Ideologically, we are with Congress and will continue to be with them. But there is nothing wrong with thinking about our growth,” he said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/modis-strategy-a-new-nda-minus-nitish/article4256404.ece

The Asian Age – BJP plays down JD-U ‘rift’ over Ayodhya

Asian Age Corespondent

New Delhi, 9 November 2011. Calling Ayodhya the country’s “cultural legacy”, the BJP on Tuesday tried to play down reports of its alliance partner JD (U)’s reluctance to attend the concluding function of the saffron party’s Janswabhiman yatra in Ayodhya on November 17.

Though the BJP claims corruption and the deteriorating law and order situation in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh are its main poll plank, sources disclosed the Hindutva and Ram Mandir issues are also going to play a significant role in the upcoming Assembly polls.

Ayodhya played an important role in bringing the BJP to the national centrestage, especially after Mr L.K. Advani’s Ram Rath yatra in the early 90s for construction of Ram Mandir at the disputed site. The JD(U), however, feels its participation in the function can dent its minority vote bank. The BJP said it will release a “black paper” on the “black deeds” of the Maya government.

http://www.asianage.com/india/bjp-plays-down-jd-u-rift-over-ayodhya-141

The Asian Age – Ayodhya sticking point for JD-U

Yojna Gusai, Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 7 November 2011. It is not just the seat-sharing formula that the BJP needs to sort out with its alliance partner JD(U). The saffron party also has to convince the JD(U) that it did not keep the latter in the dark over the concluding point of the Janswabhiman yatras, which is Ayodhya.

It was learnt that JD(U) leaders, who participated when the yatras were launched in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, have decided to skip the concluding ceremony on November 17 when the entire BJP top brass is expected to be present. The JD(U) claims it was not informed earlier that the yatras will conclude in Ayodhya.

However, the BJP is still persuading its ally to participate when the yatras conclude.

The BJP had undertaken the Ram Rath Yatra in 1990 to gather support for Ram Mandir construction at the disputed site in Ayodhya. Two years later the Babri Masjid was demolished.

The JD(U), it was learnt, is apprehensive that its participation in the concluding ceremony might “hurt” its minority vote bank. The yatras — one headed by former party chief Rajnath Singh and the other by senior leader Kalraj Mishra — were launched on October 13. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav had attended the yatra when it had commenced from Mathura, led by Mr Singh.

After the success it met during last year’s Bihar Assembly polls, when its minority vote bank also increased sizeably, the JD(U) is of the view that its presence at the ceremony might upset its prospective minority voter in the poll-bound state.

When asked to comment on the JD(U)’s reluctance to attend the concluding function of the Janswabhiman yatras in Ayodhya, Mr Mishra said “there are no differences with the JD(U) either on a seat-sharing formula or the yatras concluding in Ayodhya. They (the JD-U) had attended (Janswabhiman yatra) and we are sure they have no such problem. It’s the BJP’s yatra, not the NDA’s.”

The JD(U) is yet to settle the issue of seat-sharing formula with the BJP.

While the JD(U) wants to contest 53 of the 403 Assembly constituencies, the BJP is reluctant to give more than 20.

http://www.asianage.com/india/ayodhya-sticking-point-jd-u-732