The rift in the ruling NDA in Jharkhand widened further on Saturday with Union minister and BJP candidate for Chatra parliamentary constituency Nagmani accusing top JD(U) leadership of fielding their nominee from his seat to sabotage his electoral prospects.
"The Speaker of the Jharkhand assembly, Inder Singh Namdhari quit his post to contest against me from Chatra at the behest of JD(U) Parliamentary Board Chairman Sharad Yadav and Railway Minister Nitish Kumar. It is an attempt to sabotage my prospects in the elections", Nagmani said in a release here.
He said "with the JD(U) leadership conspiring to ensure my defeat, the Kushwaha community (the agrarian caste to which he belongs) is angry and forced to get JD(U) candidates defeated in Bihar".
Following failure of seat-sharing talks, the JD(U) and BJP are fighting each other in five parliamentary seats of Khunti, Giridih, Palamu, Godda and Chatra.