Pressure mounted on BJP to review its ties with JD(U) in the wake of attack on Narendra Modi by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar who hit back saying the train carnage in Godhra in 2002 and subsequent violence were the responsibility of the Gujarat govt.

As BJP leaders from Bihar stepped up the attack on Kumar, party chief Rajnath Singh has convened a meeting of the Core Committee on Bihar in Delhi on 18th April to discuss the current situation.

Disclosing the convening of the meeting, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi termed Kumar’s attack on Modi as “unfortunate”.

The BJP Parliamentary Board would take a call on the emerging situation at an appropriate time, he said in a statement without elaborating.

There have been demands from some leaders in Bihar that BJP should review its alliance with JD(U) and be ready to sacrifice about 20 Lok Sabha seats.

The core committee on Bihar comprises Modi, Bihar BJP President Mangal Pandey, BJP National Vice President C P Thakur, state ministers Nandkishore Yadav, Ashwani Choubey, MP Radha Mohan Singh and Nagendra Singh.

BJP’s national leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Shahnawaz Hussain, all hailing from Bihar, would also attend crucial meeting.

Responding to BJP spokesperson MeenakshI Lekhi’s critical remarks on Monday on his being part of the NDA government as Railway Minister during the Godhra train carnage and later, Kumar hit back saying the job of the Railway Ministry was to look after safety and not to deal with law and order which is the state’s responsibility.

“The job of the Railway Ministry is to look after safety issues like derailment, collision, etc and not to deal with public order which is the responsibility of the state,” Kumar told reporters in Patna.

However, Rajnath Singh appeared keen on ensuring that the issue does not escalate when he told reporters in Delhi that two parties will sit together to discuss the issue.

“No. Whatever happens and whenever it happens, we will sit together,” the BJP chief said when asked whether BJP is planning to snap ties with JD(U) after Karnataka elections.

But on its part, the JD(U) kept up the rhetoric daring BJP to withdraw support to the coalition government in Bihar.

“We have neither tied the legs of BJP nor bent before them to continue support to us…BJP is independent to take its decision…we will not function on the wishes of BJP,” Janata Dal (United) Spokesman Shivanand Tiwari told reporters.

Tiwari, who is leader of JD (U) in Rajya Sabha, said “BJP should respect its allies instead of humiliating them.”

He said BJP should not forget that no single party could form government at the Centre anymore.

In the midst of ongoing spat, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said in Kolkata that there was no threat to the alliance in Bihar and there was no immediate dispute between the two.

“There is no threat to the alliance in Bihar and it is on. There is also no immediate dispute,” he said.

He was asked about the future of the alliance in the wake of strained ties arising out of Kumar’s continued opposition to Narendra Modi as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Asked whether BJP would project Narendra Modi as the party’s PM candidate, he said “the decision will be taken by the party’s parliamentary board at an appropriate time. But the Congress is not saying who will be their candidate.”