Patna: The spat between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi turned ugly on Saturday. The Bihar government on Saturday returned Rs 5 crore, which was given by Gujarat for Kosi flood relief, just a few days after Nitish cancelled a dinner in hounour of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Patna.
"Honourable Narendra Modi was here (in Patna) sometime back for the BJP meeting. He kept on boasting about the money that Gujarat government gave us. It was not in a good taste and diminishes the value of the gesture. So we decided to return the money. Modi started it all with the posters. It was not in keeping with JD (U)'s secular image," Bihar Disaster Management Minister Divesh Chand Thakur said while justifying the return of the flood relief money.
Thakur also hinted that Modi would not be allowed to campaign in Bihar during the Assembly elections later in the year.
"Modi campaigning in Bihar won't go down well with JD(U)'s secular image. Modi is a tall leader in BJP but he has an anti-secular image," he said. Modi had not been allowed to campaign in Bihar even during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP's Bihar unit leaders, however, played down the issue.
"Narendra Modi is our national leader. But he is not bigger than the party. If the money is returned than it will be a loss for Bihar," said BJP leader and Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Ashwani Chaubey
"I am going to Delhi and will meet Gadkariji (BJP President Nitin Gadkari) on this issue also. This is a small issue. It will have no affect on the coalition. But BJP is capable of fighting alone. Whatever the Bihar government has done is not appropriate," said state BJP President CP Thakur.
BJP Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said the called it an avoidable incident.
"The money sent by Gujarat was the money from the people of Gujarat. States help each other during calamities. There should not be any polities on relief. The return of money was avoidable," said Prasad.
Gujarat Government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas called it an "unfortunate" incident.
"This decision to return the aid that Gujarat government gave is unfortunate. We had given the money in the spirit of brotherhood. The state government will decide what to do with the money," said Vyas.
The feud between Nitish and Modi started a week back during the BJP National Executive meet in Patna when advertisements appeared in Bihar dailies giving Modi the credit for Gujarat's help to Kosi flood victims in 2008.
The advertisement splashed in newspapers across the state listing humanitarian aid provided by the Gujarat government during Kosi floods had enraged Nitish so much that he had announced that the money donated by Gujarat would be returned.
"We will return whatever amount came into the relief fund. If an aid is given it is not talked about. This is an uncultured thing and against Indian ethos," an angry Nitish had said.
Janata Dal(United) , which is in power in Bihar in alliance with BJP, was also incensed by an advertisement published by Gujarat government on Muslim welfare schemes in Bihar dailies in which the pictures of girl students were found to have been that of a college in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
For the Bihar Chief Minister, who has been assiduously nurturing the Dalit-Muslim constituency, it was a huge embarrassment as he prepared to face electorate by this year end.
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