Indian opposition alliance splits ahead of polls

In a daring move to present itself as a truly secular party, the Janta Dal United JD(U) yesterday formally announced the split of its 17-year-old ties with the Bhartiya Janta Party in Bihar and walked out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The second-biggest party in India’s main opposition alliance quit the group after the dominant party appointed a Hindu ideologue to lead its campaign for parliamentary elections next year.
“Since there was divergence of opinion on basic issues with the BJP, we decided to part ways”, said JD-U President Sharad Yadav justifying the party’s decision to end the alliance. “We wanted the alliance to continue, but could not compromise on fundamental issues,” Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said. Kumar has announced that he will seek a vote of confidence on the floor of assembly on June 19.
“I have urged the Governor to call a special session of the Assembly on 19 June for a confidence vote,” Kumar said after a meeting with the Governor D Y Patil yesterday afternoon.
The Chief Minister also announced the removal of 11 BJP ministers from the state government, as they refused to attend to their duties. “I can’t see how BJP ministers can stay within the ministry and can’t work,” Nitish Kumar said, adding, despite several requests, the BJP ministers refused to return to work.
Interestingly, today the BJP ministers did not attend the cabinet meeting, hence, the JD-U decided to seek a trust vote on the floor.
Janata Dal (United) said it fears that with Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in charge, the alliance could alienate voters because of his anti-Muslim image.
Janata Dal had unsuccessfully demanded that the BJP declare that Modi, the chief minister of western Gujarat state, is not its choice for prime minister if the alliance wins in 2014.
Janata Dal, which holds 20 of the 545 seats in Parliament’s powerful lower house, is dependent on the support of Muslims, who constitute 16.5 percent of the 111 million people in Bihar state.
Modi is accused of doing little to stop anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state in 2002, which left more than 1,000 dead. He has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the violence, but has never expressed remorse or offered an apology. He was never charged with a crime.
The split is expected to hurt the opposition alliance’s chances of winning control of the federal government from the scandal-plagued Congress party in 2014.
The Congress party is expected to welcome Janata Dal into its governing United Progressive Alliance.
Janata Dal and the BJP have been running a coalition government in Bihar state, India’s second-largest state, since 2005. The National Democratic Alliance governed the country from 1998 to 2004, when it was unseated by the Congress party-led alliance.
Two other regional groups, Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, are key members of the 17-year-old opposition alliance.