Modi or us : JD(U) to give BJP deadline over picking PM candidate?

The BJP party president may be coy about declaring its prime ministerial candidate and explaining the role Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will play in the 2014 elections, but its hand may be forced by Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) who reportedly don’t want any last minute surprises.

The Bihar Chief Minister and his party have been engaging in verbal jousts with the BJP over the last few weeks, but the JD(U) has said that it will give its views on picking the alliance’s prime ministerial candidate shortly and will expect a declaration of the BJP’s intent.

“People must not have any confusion or do guess work regarding our views on NDA’s PM choice. We will convey it to the NDA and media after our national executive,” Kumar was reported as saying in an Indian Express article.

A Times of India report quotes sources as saying that a key point of discussion in the upcoming national executive meet will be the prime ministerial candidate to be picked by the NDA. Kumar had reportedly warned the BJP leadership of projecting Modi as the prime ministerial candidate privately in the past, but was told that the party had no intention of projecting a prime ministerial candidate.

Kumar has scarcely kept his opposition to the Gujarat Chief Minister’s ascent secret and in an interview in June 2012 had said the NDA should declare its prime ministerial candidate well in advance and even set down the conditions for the potential candidate.

“It should not be someone who can develop developed states, but who has a feel for underdeveloped states,” Kumar had said , adding that the leader of the NDA needed to have ‘secular credentials’.

But will the JD(U) pull the plug on a 17-year-old alliance in the event the BJP chooses not to toe its line on the prime ministerial candidate? And what happens to the Bihar government, which it had formed in alliance with the BJP, if it does?

According to an  analysis in India Today, the parting of ways between the two allies wouldn’t hurt the JD(U) government in Bihar because it would fall short of a majority by only five MLAs, which can be made up by independent MLAs.

The break up of the alliance may mean that the Gujarat Chief Minister may finally get to campaign in Bihar and hope to polarise voters and possibly even rake in more support. However, given the state is on the verge of getting special status from the Centre, Kumar could leverage his record of governance and his claims of being a secular leader in order to increase his tally in the next general elections making him a key ally to any alliance at the centre.

While some believe that Kumar and the JD(U) stands little chance without the BJP by his side, what remains to be seen is if the Bihar chief minister is willing to gamble on the outcome of backing Modi. Perhaps as Firstpost’s R Jagannathan had pointed out , it wouldn’t hurt to have a plan B to Modi. Or is it time for the BJP to take up  Baba Ramdev on his offer to broker a peace between the two leaders?