Patna: An important member of the BJP in Bihar has switched sides - he has joined Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United). Sanjay Jha was sworn into Mr Kumar's party at the chief minister's residence in Patna.
In the crossover lies a new pain-point for Mr Kumar's party and the BJP, which together run the Bihar government, but have been attacking each other lately. At the heart of their dispute lies Mr Kumar's hostile relations with BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Without naming him, Mr Kumar has ruled out supporting Mr Modi if the BJP decides to field him as its candidate for Prime Minister in 2014. Mr Kumar's party is an important member of the BJP-led coalition, the NDA.
Mr Jha, who joined the chief minister's party today was close to senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and his party's Sushil Kumar Modi, who is the Deputy Chief Minister in Bihar. He was nominated by the BJP to the Bihar Legislative Council, and has in the past served as a mediator between the two ruling parties. BJP leaders worry that his move will be aped by several others within its ranks.
Mr Jha is widely expected to contest the Lok Sabha election in 2014 from Darbanga - the current MP from there is the BJP's Kirti Azad.
In a sign of their close ties, the chief minister visited Mr Jha's village of Araria Sangram three times in the last one year. Mr Jha has considerable weight among Brahmin voters in the state. Earlier this year, when he organised Bihar Diwas - a celebration of the state - in New Delhi, he did not invite any BJP leaders to the event. The event had only Bihar Chief Minister as speaker.
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