Nitish Kumar's Bihar Model Better Than Narendra Modi’s Gujarat: BJP Minister

PATNA: A BJP minister in the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government has lauded the ‘Nitish model’ of development, saying it is better than the Gujarat model. It has triggered speculation that the minister and some more MLAs may be willing to switch sides in the event of a split in the JD(U)-BJP alliance.

“Even before Modiji assumed the mantle of governance, Gujarat was already a developed state. On the other hand Nitishji took over from scratch but managed to script a turnaround story in Bihar. Compared to Gujarat, the Bihar model is much better and is receiving plaudits from within the country and beyond,” tourism minister Sunil Kumar Pintu said.

The JD(U)-BJP alliance is facing its worst crisis since the parties tied up 17 years ago. Even if some BJP MLAs decide to join JD(U), their numbers are unlikely to be good enough to effect a formal split, without attracting provisions under the anti-defection law. BJP has 91 MLAs and two-thirds of them will have to split to avoid disqualification.

However, some MLAs may be even ready to risk their membership in the hope of being reelected on a JD(U) ticket. Pintu’s comparison comes at a time when the JD(U) leadership has been raising the pitch against Modi, making it clear that BJP’s bid to project the Gujarat chief minister as its prime ministerial candidate will face its resistance.

Though there are BJP ministers politically bullish on Modi and acknowledge the growth story of Gujarat under his leadership, the tourism minister by ranking the Gujarat model as inferior to that of Bihar may be actually signalling his political preference for Kumar. The political churning in Bihar has put even Lalu Prasad’s RJD under threat. A formal split in RJD can be effected with the help of just 16 MLAs. Some of them are already believed to be in touch with the JD(U) leadership, and may be waiting to take the plunge.