PATNA, Bihar — The ruling party in the eastern state of Bihar is in a complete disarray ever since it broke ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar and the leader Janata Dal (United), who took the risk of snapping a longtime alliance with the BJP over the latter's nomination of Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, has been at the receiving end. Differences in the JD(U) seem to be getting wider at the leadership level, throwing the party into a chaotic situation. The latest tug of war within the party is over supporting the candidature of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi against Modi. JD (U) state unit president Bashist Narain Singh on Saturday rejected the claim of party spokesman K.C.Tyagi that he (Tyagi) and party chief Sharad Yadav would be campaigning for Kejriwal. Singh said neither Yadav nor Kumar would be going to Varanasi to canvass for Kejriwal as both of them were busy in electioneering for the next phase of polling for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies to be held on May 7 and May 12. Singh declined to comment on what Tyagi had to say on the issue, but said the party was pressed to meet its own needs in the state. A day earlier on Friday, Yadav had accused Kumar of indulging in politics of caste like Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad. The JD (U) president, however, retracted his statement within hours, attributing it to a slip of the tongue. Yadav locked in a rather tough battle in Madhepura against RJD's Pappu Yadav and BJP's Vijay Singh Kushwaha has apparently not been comfortable with the way the party has been functioning of late. The JD (U) chief had also scotched rumors that he was likely to shift to Nalanda from Madhepura, after it was declared that Pappu Yadav would be the RJD candidate. According to party sources, Yadav in no way wanted to project that he was obliged to Kumar.
