Its trouble time for the deputy chief minister of Bihar, BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi. A large chunk of party MLAs met the senior leaders, demanding immediate removal of Modi. The deputy chief minister is being accused of "toeing the Nitish line by victimising his own men."
The saffron echelons are already in a bind over the situation in Rajsthan. Pressure was being mounted on the party high command to replace the Rajsthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje for her "failure" to tackle the situation. The dissident faction claimed that of the 55 MLAs, 36 were opposed to Mr Modi and the state unit chief Radha Mohan Singh. Mr Modi reportedly told the BJP high command that he was willing to "step down", if the majority legislatures demand this.
The Modi loyalists have demanded a show of strength. The dissident claimed that the senior party leaders have given indication, that they were willing to "remove Mr Modi". It was being claimed that Mr Modi could be replaced either by Mr Aswhini Kumar Chaubey or Mr Nand Kishore Yadav. Mr Modi in consultation with the Bihar chief minister and JD(U) leader, Mr Nitish Kumar had changed the portfolios of these two ministers.
Source:The Times Of India,29-05-08
