BJP invites Narendra Modi to campaign in Bihar

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday invited Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to campaign in Bihar, a move that is sure to be a red rag to the Janata Dal-United and may revive a bitter clash between the two coalition partners ahead of the assembly elections.

"Modiji, please come to Bihar. You may campaign and hold the BJP flag high," BJP general secretary and in-charge of the party in Bihar, Ananth Kumar, told a meeting of the party's Gujarat executive in Ahmedabad.

He said the BJP national president has sent him as he was in charge of the party in Bihar.

"I feel from the bottom of my heart that it may be Bangalore, Benaras or Ballia- Bharat or Bihar. We invite him to come to campaign. He is our leader," he said to a thunderous applause from the party leaders.

Modi and other senior leaders including Arun Jaitley were seated on the dais. JD-U leader Shivanand Tiwari reacted sharply to Kumar's statement saying why the BJP was being "adamant" on calling Modi for campaign.

"The BJP wants to rule the whole of India. The days of one party rule is gone. Coalition is the rule of the day. Why is BJP adamant? Why is it creating a scene in Bihar," he said.

Only last month, Nitish Kumar snubbed the BJP by cancelling a dinner for its top leadership in Patna when they were there for a meeting of the National Executive after a couple of advertisements were published in local dailies showing Modi and Nitish Kumar holding their hands together.

Nitish Kumar also returned Rs. 5 crore being the unspent money of the aid given by the Gujarat government in 2008 to Bihar at the time of Kosi floods.

The joint campaign by Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi was also called off in the wake of the spat but later it was decided to be resumed.