Nitish was never at ease with Advani, was a fan of Vajpayee: Sushil Modi

Patna,(BiharTimes): The display of Nitish-Advani bonhomie at the National Integration Council meeting in New Delhi on Monday has now taken a new twist with the former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi stating that “Nitishji was a fan of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He never was at ease with Advaniji.”

He told Hindustan Times that though Nitish-Advani association went back a long way, it was not always marked by the kind of bonhomie witnessed at the NIC meet.

Sushil recalled Nitish considered Advani a Hindutva hardliner and the one who had to take his share of the blame for the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992.

“When Advaniji’s rathyatra was stopped by the Lalu Prasad regime at Samastipur and he was arrested, the word was that the move had backing of Nitishji, who was with Laluji at the time,” Sushil Modi told the daily.

He also said that when Advani was made the prime ministerial nominee of the NDA in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, Nitish accepted the decision “with a great deal of reluctance”.

“In fact, he attended only Advaniji’s first election campaign meeting in Bihar at Buxar, staying away from his other meetings,” the leader of opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council said.

“Their shared reservation about Narendra Modi being declared the BJP’s PM nominee appears to have triggered a fresh bonhomie between them,” SuMo felt.

Though Sushil Modi is considered close to both Advani and Vajpayee he had worked as Nitish’s deputy for seven and a half years before the JD(U) and BJP got split on June 16 last.