Thakur in Delhi to meet Gadkari
Hopes of a rapprochement among the warring factions of the BJP in Bihar gained ground on Saturday after state unit president C.P. Thakur flew out of Patna to meet party chief Nitin Gadkari.
Hopes of a rapprochement among the warring factions of the BJP in Bihar gained ground on Saturday after state unit president C.P. Thakur flew out of Patna to meet party chief Nitin Gadkari.
Thakur had put in his papers on Friday, complaining he had been kept out of the party’s electoral decision-making process by the rival party faction headed by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
But a loosely-stitched peace pact between Modi and Thakur — at least for the duration of the polls, which are less than two weeks away — appeared to be on the cards by Saturday afternoon.
“Thakur will be joined in New Delhi by BJP general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan. The two will travel together to Nagpur for a meeting with the BJP national president,” said a BJP leader. “We are hopeful that the crisis created by his resignation will blow over.”
Modi was optimistic about an amicable resolution. “Our opponents will not be allowed to make political capital out of this issue,” he told reporters on Saturday.
NDA national convenor and Janata Dal(United) president Sharad Yadav, too, expressed confidence the matter would be resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned.
Thakur had indicated to HT on Friday that he was open to an amicable resolution of the issues that prompted his resignation. He had said he was given to understand that some BJP nominees announced against his wishes would be replaced.
This was supplemented on Saturday by the BJP grapevine that Thakur’s son Vivek would be suitably accommodated, possibly as a member of the state legislative council. The denial of the Bankipore seat to Vivek had been cited as a reason Thakur was upset.