A former Janata Dal (United) minister has wondered why Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has opted for an alliance with the BJP for the Delhi Assembly election slated to be held on February 8.

In a letter to Nitish Kumar, Pavan K Varma confessed that he is “perplexed” with the decision of JD(U) to the fight the Delhi election in alliance with the BJP when the CM himself has expressed grave apprehensions about the BJP-RSS combine. He also asked the Chief Minister to provide an “ideological clarity” in the matter.

“On more than one occasion, you have expressed your grave apprehensions about the BJP-RSS combine,” Varma said in the letter on Tuesday.

He stated that when Nitish Kumar was leading the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, the CM himself had “openly made a call for ‘RSS Mukt Bharat'”.

Pavan Varma further said that although JD(U) has been in an alliance with the BJP, Nitish Kumar has been of the opinion that the “saffron party is leading India into a dangerous space”.

“If these are your real views, I fail to understand how the JDU is now extending its alliance with the BJP beyond Bihar, when even long standing allies of the BJP, like the Akali Dal, have refused to do so,” he wrote in a letter which has also been posted on Twitter.

This is the letter I have written to ⁦@NitishKumar⁩ today asking him how the JD(U) has formed an alliance with the BJP for the Delhi elections, given his own views on the BJP, and the massive national outrage against the divisive CAA-NPR-NRC scheme. pic.twitter.com/ErSynnuiYm

— Pavan K. Varma (@PavanK_Varma) January 21, 2020

In a major setback for BJP over alliance with its partners in state politics after Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of Punjab, the party’s long-standing ally on Monday decided to stay away from the Delhi Assembly election rather than contesting with the BJP.

The decision was taken by SAD to withhold its stand on the contentious CAA and NRC, as they opposed nationwide NRC and sought revision in CAA adding Muslims with the other six religions who were given the ease to get Indian Citizenship.

SAD is very crucial for BJP for the Delhi Assembly election as the national capital has 4.43 per cent of Sikhs.

Further, the JD(U) leader stressed for harmony between the party’s constitution, its chief’s private conviction and its actions taken in public.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Amit Shah on Thursday formally announced that the NDA would fight the Bihar Assembly polls, which are due later this year, under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

This comes even as Nitish Kumar has criticised the National Register of Citizens (NRC) saying that there was “no question” or need to implement it in Bihar.