Bihar BJP chief has a warning for Nitish Kumar’s JD(U)

The rift between the BJP and its ruling alliance partner JD(U) in Bihar is widening further, with state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal putting out a long Facebook post in which he warns JD(U) leaders against “playing Twitter-Twitter with” Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Else, “76 lakh BJP workers in Bihar” will reply.

Jaiswal’s post mentions noted Hindi playwright Daya Prakash Sinha, against whom he has filed an FIR for drawing a parallel between King Ashoka and Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.

JDU’s national president Rajiv Ranjan and parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha had recently written to PM Modi urging that the Padma Shri awarded to Daya Prakash be withdrawn over his comments.

Jaiswal asked in his post why, instead of arresting the playwright, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar’s party leaders were asking for the award to be withdrawn.

Also read: ‘Ashoka was like Aurangzeb’: Playwright leaves BJP red-faced in Bihar

“Why do these leaders keep tagging me and the central leadership and question us? We all have to stay within our limits in the alliance. It cannot be one-sided anymore. The first condition of this limit is that you cannot play Twitter Twitter with the country’s PM. If you do that and raise questions, then 76 lakh BJP workers in Bihar can give a fitting answer. I am sure you will be careful in future,” he wrote.

“There can’t be anything more nonsensical then asking the PM to take back the award,” he said.

Kushwaha responding to the post by saying: “We will not back down on our demand and will continue till the award is withdrawn.”

“While doing research on Samrat (emperor) Ashok, I was greatly surprised by several similarities between him and Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Both had committed many sins in their early days and later resorted to over-religiosity to hide their sins so that people were diverted towards religion and their sins were overlooked,” playwright Sinha was quoted as saying during an interview with Hindi newspaper Navbharat Times.