The gulf between the JDU and the BJP has further widened with the chief minister Nitish Kumar now demanding a probe into the Pegasus snooping controversy which off late is rocking the monsoon session of the Parliament.
Unease prevails amidst the NDA partners, the JDU and the BJP with each taking a dig at another on issues relating to both state and Centre, said sources privy to the political developments in Bihar. The CM Nitish Kumar told media persons that the Pegasus issue needs to be discussed in Parliament since allegations of phone tapping have been building up for quite some time now. It needs to be debated, said Kumar.
Presently, the Opposition parties led by Congress and including Trinamul Congress, among others, have been shooting questions at the Modi government on the Pegasus issue that came to the fore through media reports and has created a storm in both Houses of the Parliament, disrupting the sessions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had snubbed the opposition parties, alleging they were attempting to divert attention from “real issues” that concern the welfare of the country and its citizens. The centre has termed the Pegasus controversy a “non-issue”.
Amid this, Nitish Kumar’s demand of discussion of the matter, makes him appear as a “dissenter” and that is unlikely to be welcomed by the BJP-led-NDA, sources said highlighting that Nitish’s JDU is an ally of the NDA government in Bihar and at the Centre.
Recently, Bihar’s Panchayat Raj minister Samrat Chaudhary has stoked controversy by claiming in the state Assembly’s Monsoon Session that the next chief minister of Bihar will be from the BJP.
The minister has claimed that the BJP will form the next government in Bihar in 2025. He went on claim that the incumbent government in Bihar is nothing short of a political compromise between both the parties and according to him, it is what led Nitish Kumar to become the chief minister. Chaudhary’s statement was backed by Amrendra Pratap Singh, the agriculture minister of Bihar.
However, the JDU didn’t take the comments by the ministers lightly. JDU MLC Sanjay Singh said that the BJP had contested the election alone in 2015 and everyone knows what happened. “Samrat Chaudhary and Amrendra Pratap Singh are ministers in the Bihar government. They should give responsible statements in public.”