New Delhi, Jan 19: Mangal Pandey will be the new President of the Bihar unit of BJP. State council of Bihar BJP on Friday formally announced and endorsed the election of Pandey as the new chief of Bihar BJP. Mangal Pandey will replace Dr C P Thakur, the outgoing BJP President.
Mangal Pandey is said to be the protégé of senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. The selection of Mangal Pandey is being seen as another example of the intra-party power struggle within the state BJP.
It's an open secret that Sushil Kumar Modi is in favour of continuing the alliance with Nitish Kumar's party at any cost. He has always been on the side of Nitish Kumar so far as Narendra Modi's PM candidature is concerned. Dr C P Thakur, the outgoing state President, was seen as leading that section of Bihar BJP that was sympathetic to Narendra Modi.
Stressing the need for maintaining the alliance with Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar modi said, "Things should not be seen emotionally because the coalition era is still not over. Neither the BJP nor the Congress can form government at the Centre on their own and they need alliance with other parties. I would even say that Atal Bihari Vajpayee would not have become PM without the support of other coalition partners. Also, the Bharatiya Janasangh and, later, the BJP had forged ahead in Bihar only when in coalition, like in 1967, 1977, and then 2000 onwards."
Dr C P Thakur, on the other hand, did not hide his disappointment over his ouster. Reacting to his ouster, Thakur said, "My fault was that I, when asked by the media, took Narendra Modi's name, and asked who can stop Modi from participating in the party's Hoonkar Rally here?
