As the voice of dissent got shriller within BJP after its drubbing in the Bihar assembly elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said it was natural that the reaction would be strong as the saffron outfit had made a high-profile campaign in the state.
“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction,” Kumar said, reacting to the strongly-worded statement of BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Yashwant Sinha raising a banner of revolt against the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“BJP had created a hype over Bihar elections and made its campaign high-profile in tune with it. So, the reaction would also be of that proportion,” Kumar said.
He was speaking to mediapersons outside Raj Bhawan after meeting Governor Ram Nath Kovind to extend Diwali greetings.
“Advani and Joshi formed the triumvirate of BJP along with A. B. Vajpayee and if they are saying something about the party, it is a serious matter,” he said.
Kumar enjoyed cordial relations with Advani during his days in NDA. He had wished the BJP veteran on his birthday on November 8 too.
After Shatrughan Sinha, R. K. Singh, Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav and Bhola Singh, the four BJP veterans had yesterday issued a joint statement that demanded a thorough review of the debacle and responsibility fixed for the defeat in Bihar.
“The principal reason for the latest defeat is the way the party has been emasculated in the last year. A through review must be done of the reasons for the defeat as well as of the way the party is being forced to kow-tow to a handful, and how its consensual character has been destroyed,” the veterans had said.