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BJP tries to squeeze past warring Nitish, Paswan

George Iype in New Delhi

An intense tussle is on between Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar for the chief ministerial post in Bihar, even as political parties are waiting for the state assembly poll results on Friday.

But the power struggle between the Samata Party and the Janata Dal United might just help the Bharatiya Janata Party walk away with the politically important top post.

Exit polls have predicted that Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal will take a beating in the polls and ensure the National Democratic Alliance to bag at least 195 seats in the 324-member Bihar assembly.

For the past two days, both Paswan and Kumar -- aspirants for the chief minister's post for many years now -- have been camping in the capital, meeting top BJP leaders like Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani, to impress them with the credentials of their candidature.

BJP sources said Vajpayee, Advani and other party leaders are in favour of propping up Paswan as chief minister for the simple reason that he is now perhaps the most well-known Dalit leader in the country.

"Appointing a leader like Paswan in Bihar will help our party a lot to spread the message that the BJP stands for Dalits in the country," a BJP leader told rediff.com.

But Paswan's candidature is unlikely to sail smoothly, as the Samata Party leadership is expected to go belligerent if Nitish Kumar is denied the chief minister's gaddi.

BJP leaders said the Bihar poll results will throw the party leadership into a quandary, as it is almost agreed in other states on who would become the CM. While in Orissa it is the Biju Janata Dal's Naveen Patnaik, in Haryana it is certain that the Indian National Lok Dal leader Prakash Chautala will head the new government.

BJP leaders admit that Bihar will be the only problem area as the party fears that if denied the chief minister's post, Nitish Kumar will throw in his lot with Laloo Prasad Yadav. Though Nitish fell out with the latter five years back, they are said to be good friends still.

Any alliance between Laloo and Kumar will not only wreak havoc with the BJP's game-plan, it could also upset the Vajpayee government at the Centre.

Therefore, the BJP party leadership is treading very carefully on the issue. Though the party itself nurses the ambition of bagging the post, most NDA partners will oppose the move on the grounds the BJP should leave the states to its allies since it heads the central government.

But BJP sources point out that if a solution is not found to sort out the dispute between Paswan and Kumar, the leadership would unhesitatingly suggest that its own nominee should head the Bihar government with others as partners.

The BJP leadership is said to have already sounded out two leaders for the post -- Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and leader of the BJP's legislative wing in Bihar Sushil Modi.

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