In an embarrassment to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a senior Janata Dal-United Legislator Chhedi Paswan met Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi following which the party suspended him for six years.
Paswan, who was a minister in Kumar's previous government from 2005-10, is presently a party MLA from Mohania in Kaimur district, met Modi in Gandhinagar. Paswan, who has been sulking for sometime on being denied ministerial berth in Kumar's second innings after 2010 elections, described his meeting with the Gujarat chief minister as only a courtesy call.
But, his party refused to buy this.
"Party President Sharad Yadav has suspended Paswan from the JD-U for six years," state JD-U President Bashistha Narayan Singh told PTI. Paswan, had also served as minister in Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal government before switching over to the JD-U in 2005.
Modi is scheduled to address "Hoonkar rally" at Gandhi maidan in Patna on October 27, his first major political engagement in Bihar after separation of the JD-U and BJP.
Earlier, two JD-U MPs -- Captain Jainarayan Nishad and Purnamasi Ram -- had met BJP Gujarat President Rajendra Rupala and sang paens to Narendra Modi.
Two Congress leaders, including Lalu Prasad's estranged brother-in-law Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav, had to pay the price for meeting Modi in Gujarat. They were thrown out of their party on this ground.
