Bihar BJP chief asks JD-U to maintain 'maryada' of alliance

Patna (Bihar) [India], January 18 : In an apparent rift between Bihar's NDA allies, state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal on Monday warned the leaders of Janata Dal (United) to maintain the "maryada" (dignity) of the alliance.
In a Facebook post, Jaiswal said, "To ensure that the NDA alliance is strong in Bihar, we all have to be maintain maryada (dignity) of the alliance. It cannot be one-sided anymore."
Without taking any names, the BJP chief said, "the NDA alliance is decided by the Central leaders and is very strong. We need to walk together."
He further questioned why some JD(U) leaders were tagging him and the BJP central leadership on Twitter.
"The first condition of this coalition is to stop playing Twitter-Twitter with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the honour and pride of each and every BJP worker. If you question him, then 76 lakh BJP workers of Bihar know very well to answer it. I am sure all of us will take care of this in future," said Jaiswal.
He further targeted two JD(U) leaders who had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the Padma Shri award from Daya Shankar Sinha, who has compared King Ashoka and Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.
"There can't be anything more absurd than asking Prime Minister to take back the award as there has not been such precedent in the last 74 years. There is no clear guideline on taking back such awards," Jaiswal said.
He further said that first of all the Bihar government should arrest Daya Shankar Sinha.
"We are 100 times more opposed to Sinha than you are because Jansangh and BJP's birth is based on cultural nationalism. If you are keen about Sinha being punished, arrest him in the light of my FIR against him and prosecute him in a fast track court," he said.
The BJP chief said, "It is not just our responsibility to ensure that the Bihar government should run smoothly in a good environment. This is your responsibility too. If there is a problem, then we should sit together and find a solution. If you want something from our central leaders, then they should also talk directly to them."
Earlier, the state BJP chief had slammed the Bihar government over the sale of illicit liquor in the state.
The NDA had secured a 125-seat majority in the 243-seat strong Bihar Legislative Assembly in 2020, of which BJP won on 74 seats, JD(U) on 43 while eight seats were won by two other NDA constituents. The RJD, on the other hand, emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats while the Congress only won 19 of the 70 seats it had contested on.