Lack of coordination in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance under the current dispensation, in sharp contrast with the Vajpayee era, was on Thursday rued by yet another key aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Bijendra Prasad Yadav, the senior-most minister in the state cabinet and a former Bihar unit president of the Janata Dal-United, also lamented that the lack of cohesion was causing allies to engage in allegations and counter allegations, a job best left to the Opposition.
"Aarop-pratyarop (allegations and counter allegations) behoves the Opposition. It is regrettable when parties sharing power indulge in the same," Yadav told reporters in response to queries about acerbic war of words that is frequently seen among leaders of his party and ally BJP.
Yadav lamented that no 'coordination committee of the NDA' existed now, unlike during the Vajpayee era when the same was headed by veteran socialist leader George Fernandes.
"The coordination committee served an important purpose. Members of different parties would sit together and thrash out their differences arising out of diverse ideologies. Now, there is no such forum, leaving the leaders with no choice but to express their differences through the media which reflects poorly on the coalition," said the JD-U leader, whose party is the largest ally of the BJP.
Yadav, who is known to be a man of few words, joins more vocal JD-U leaders like Upendra Kushwaha and KC Tyagi in demanding restoration of the NDA's coordination committee.
The demand is viewed in political circles as an indirect protest by the JD(U) against the domineering stance the BJP has come to adopt under Modi-Shah which is also characterized by the party enjoying a brute majority on its own in Parliament.
In the recent past, the JD-U and the BJP have held diametrically opposite views over issues like 'Agnipath', population control law and alleged comparison of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with Islamic extremist organisation Popular Front of India by a police official.
Yadav, who holds key portfolios like power and planning and implementation also disapproved of his cabinet colleagues going public with grievances over their recommendations for transfers and postings being overturned by the chief minister.
"They should read the Constitution. It is clearly stated that the council of ministers is meant to aid and assist the chief minister in policy matters. Transfers and postings are administrative matters. It is unfortunate if ministers start making these a prestige issue," he added.
Notably, the minister for revenue and land reforms Ram Surat Rai, a voluble BJP leader, had recently expressed overt displeasure over the CM's office vetoing transfers and postings of more than 100 officials which he had cleared.
Earlier in the day, Trinamool Congress MP Shatrughan Sinha said in Kolkata that while the reign of Vajpayee projected lokshahi (democracy), that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi reflects tanashahi (dictatorship).
