The JD(U) is "firmly" in the alliance and speculation about instability are "baseless", the party's national general secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh told reporters in Bihar's Sheikhpura district.
The ruling JD(U) in Bihar on Friday asserted that the NDA in the state was "intact", dismissing speculation of a rift within the alliance in the wake of the party's decision to "stay out" of the Narendra Modi government.
The JD(U) is "firmly" in the alliance and speculation about instability are "baseless", the party's national general secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh told reporters in Bihar's Sheikhpura district.
Following the swearing-in ceremony of the Modi government, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar had declined to be part of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in protest against the "symbolic representation" of one ministerial berth offered to it, but refuted suggestions of any difference with its ally.
Singh, who is the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha, said, "The NDA is intact. Speculation about any political instability are baseless. The JD(U) is firmly in the alliance."
He was responding to queries about the conjecture, triggered by Kumar's stand and following developments like leaders of the opposition 'mahagathbandhan' softening their stance towards the JD(U) chief sensing a rift within National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The NDA, comprising BJP, JD(U) and LJP, won 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the recent general elections, the best performance by any political formation in the last few decades.Kumar's party bagged 16 seats.
Kumar had initially indicated that he was looking forward to his party joining the new Modi government and Singh's name was believed to be among the ones which the JD(U) president was expected to push forward.
This, however, did not materialise and though the Bihar chief minister attended the swearing-in ceremony, he made it clear that the BJP was insistent on all allies agreeing for a "symbolic representation" in the Union cabinet and that this was unacceptable to him.
The JD(U) president had said,"The unanimous view (of JD(U) leaders) is that we should stay out of the ministry. Everybody felt there should be proportional representation in an alliance government."
Pointing to the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee wherein he was himself a minister, Kumar had said he wanted a representation that was in proportion to the strength of a party in Parliament.
The JD(U) leader had also said he will not be joining the government at the Centre in the future as it would give a signal that he was trying to strike a bargain when he was taking a principled stand.
The BJP and the JD(U) have been alliance partners since 1996, except for a four-year-long hiatus between 2013 and 2017 when Kumar had quit the NDA and forged a short-lived alliance with the RJD and the Congress.
The Lok Sabha election results, wherein BJP won 17 seats, one more than the JD(U), led to speculation that the saffron party might not remain content with its status of a junior alliance partner in Bihar and demand a greater share in the assembly polls due next year.
