Posters demanding Bharat Ratna for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appeared across Patna on Saturday, with one prominently placed outside the JD(U) office at Birchand Patel Marg.
The posters coincided with a state executive meeting attended by the party leader, stirring political chatter.
While the party did not officially endorse the campaign, a senior JD(U) leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed support for Kumar's recognition.
"We cannot say that demand for Bharat Ratna is the JD(U)'s official stand. Maybe, out of a sense of modesty, our leader would even frown upon such vehemence. But deep within, every JD(U) worker believes that Nitish Kumar deserves the highest honour."
Nitish Kumar, the state’s longest-serving chief minister, has led Bihar since 2005, except for a brief period under Jitan Ram Manjhi, now a Union minister. He is set to lead the NDA in next year’s assembly polls and had a distinguished tenure as a Union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Opposition party RJD seized the moment, interpreting the posters as a sign of internal discord within the JD(U)-BJP alliance. "Nitish Kumar is under pressure from the BJP to vacate his chair.
The JD(U) meeting has been called to find a way out. The posters demanding Bharat Ratna are proof that the party is in disarray," claimed RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwary.
The JD(U) and BJP rekindled their alliance in January after Kumar's brief stint with the RJD, Congress, and Left.
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