Nitish hurls riot charge back at Modi, BJP to meet

The BJP and JD-U took their fight up yet another notch Tuesday as Nitish Kumar mounted a fresh attack on Narendra Modi and the senior ally declared it would be discussing the present political situation at a meeting of its core committee on Bihar with BJP president Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Thursday.

The BJP and JD-U took their fight up yet another notch Tuesday as Nitish Kumar mounted a fresh attack on Narendra Modi and the senior ally declared it would be discussing the present political situation at a meeting of its core committee on Bihar with BJP president Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Thursday.

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Rejecting the BJP charge that he had done little as railway minister during the Godhra train carnage that led to the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, the Bihar chief minister shot back that law and order was the responsibility of the Narendra Modi government.

Nitish had on Sunday questioned the Gujarat CM's secular credentials in the backdrop of his emerging as a possible PM candidate for the BJP.

"I discharged my duties as rail minister with full responsibility. It is a railway minister's duty to oversee the safety and security of the railways. Maintaining law and order is a state subject," he said.

Later, his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi said the BJP core committee - which includes Modi - would take a call on the "unfortunate" developments.

In Delhi, asked if the BJP would snap ties with the JD-U after the Karnataka polls, Rajnath said: "Whatever happens and whenever it happens, we will sit together."