Amid CAA-NRC row, JD(U) leader questions Nitish Kumar on poll tie-up with BJP in Delhi

A senior JD(U) on Tuesday questioned party chief Nitish Kumar to clarify his ideological stand after it announced a poll-tie up with the BJP for Delhi elections. Referring to Nitish's 'private apprehensions' about the RSS-BJP, diplomat-turned-politician Pavan Varma sought ideological clarity from the Bihar Chief Minister.

In a letter to JD(U) president that Varma posted on Twitter, he claimed that Nitish had expressed "apprehensions" to him in private despite the Bihar alliance with the BJP in 2017.

"On more than one occasion, you have expressed your grave apprehensions about the BJP-RSS combine," the JD(U) general secretary said in his letter to the party chief.

"I remember your confessing to me in private how the current leadership in the BJP party has humiliated you. You maintained, on more than one occasion, that the BJP is leading India into a 'dangerous space.' It was your personal view, as conveyed to me, that the BJP is destroying institutions, and that there is a need for democratic and socialist forces within the country to regroup, a task for which you actually assigned a senior party official," Varma, a former Rajya Sabha MP, wrote. 

The former IFS officer said, "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, aimed at mutilating the peace, harmony and stability of the country."

This is the letter I have written to ⁦@NitishKumar⁩ today asking him how the JD(U) has formed an alliance with the BJP for the Delhi elections, given his own views on the BJP, and the massive national outrage against the divisive CAA-NPR-NRC scheme. pic.twitter.com/ErSynnuiYm

— Pavan K. Varma (@PavanK_Varma) January 21, 2020

There is an urgent need for the JD(U) 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, Varma wrote. 

"Politics, as you have emphasised to us, must be about principle and the courage of conviction," he said in the letter. 

"I look forward to receiving some ideological clarity from you, either in a formal meeting of the JD(U) or through such means as you consider best," Varma said.

The former diplomat said the JD(U)'s decision to broaden its alliance outside Bihar and join hands with the BJP for the Delhi polls has left him "deeply perplexed."

The JD(U) is contesting two seats in alliance with the BJP in Delhi at a time when there are massive protests across the country over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens, including within the JD(U). Another JD(U) leader, party vice president Prashant Kishor, has also publicly taken a stand against the BJP government on the issue. 

Later speaking to reporters, Varma, when parties like Akali Dal, along tome BJP ally, has taken a stand on the issue and are not coming with BJP in Delhi election then JDU should also clarify its stand.

"Nitish Kumar hasn't clarified party's stand on NRC-CAA so far. He should clarify his stand on the issue. I will remain with the party or not will be decided once Nitish ji replies to my letter," he said when asked of would quit the party.