Sushil Kumar Modi hits back at Nitish

BJP leader and Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today hit back at alliance partner JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar saying that his statement at national executives against BJP was completely unwarrented.

BJP leader and Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday hit back at alliance partner JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar saying that his statement at national executives against BJP was completely unwarrented.

Modi said that the party will discuss the future course of action during the April 18 meeting at BJP national excecutive.

The tenuous equation between the two parties came under further strain when Nitish Kumar on Sunday said in New Delhi that the party would not compromise on the issue of a secular leader for the country's top job. He did not name Modi directly but the inference was only too clear and the battlelines became more clearly drawn.

Reflecting widening rift with JD (U), BJP had on Monday said that Nitish Kumar was "nobody" to give a certificate on secularism to his Gujarat counterpart.

BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi had rubbed in the point that Kumar was part of the Vajpayee government when the Godhra incident took place in 2002 and still continued to be a part of NDA.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar appeared to attack Narendra Modi, saying maintenance of law and order was state government's responsibility.

Kumar's response came after RJD chief Lalu Prasad asked if the chief minister was genuinely opposed to Modi why did he not quit as the railway minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government after the Gujarat riots in 2002.

Kumar reminded Prasad that a point by point rebuttal was given to the RJD chief when he had raised the issue in Parliament long back.