With its largest ally Janata Dal United hardening its stance against BJP, the party appeared to be heading towards going to the next elections with the Bihar based party, headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar. The tussle between the two started over BJP elevating Narendra Modi as its chief campaigner.The move could also trigger the formation of a new non-Congress, non-BJP front to fight the next Lok Sabha elections.

 

Spurred by the possible JDU-BJP division, Trinamool Congress chief and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday initiated efforts for formation of a Federal Front of these parties by talking to chief ministers Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik. The appointment of Modi as BJP's election campaign committee chief, over which JDU has strong reservations, has brought the long standing alliance between the two parties to a precipice and could split the BJP-led NDA.

 

In fast-changing equations, JD-U general secretary KC Tyagi, deputed by Kumar, met Banerjee in Kolkata and discussed the possibilities of forming a federal front. JD-U MPs and MLAs have been asked to stay put in Patna on Friday and Saturday, when a meeting could be held take a final call on the tie-up with BJP. JD-U, which heads the coalition with BJP in Bihar, has 118 MLAs and does not the support of BJP's 91 MLAs to continue in power in the 243-member state assembly.

 

At the other end, LK Advani, who was virtually forced by the RSS to withdraw his resignation from key posts in the BJP after Modi's elevation, spoke to Nitish Kumar and JDU chief Sharad Yadav and in an apparent bid to keep NDA united to face the Lok Sabha elections. Yadav is also the convener of NDA.