Nitish-Shah to meet on July 12 amidst talk of differences

New Delhi, July 10: Amid reports of growing rift between the BJP and the JD (U), Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar are set to meet on July 12.

JD(U), which is an ally of the BJP, had on Sunday decided that it would contest upcoming elections in Manipur, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on its own. There were also reports that all is not well in the JD (U)-BJP alliance.

"Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to meet BJP President Amit Shah over breakfast and dinner on July 12," ANI quoted Bihar BJP state president Nityanand Rai as saying.

JD (U) had contested Bihar Assembly elections in alliance with RJD and Congress after which Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister. Last year, however, Nitish severed ties with the grand alliance and sided with the BJP. The current government in Bihar is a JD (U)-BJP alliance government.

A few days back, eyebrows were raised after Nitish called RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to inquire about latter's health. There were talks in the political circles that Nitish is getting closer to RJD and this is not to the liking of the BJP.

Nitish Kumar then said he had made four calls to inquire about ally-turned adversary Lalu Prasad's health out of human consideration and without any political motivation. His remark came days after Prasad's younger son Tejashwi Yadav had dismissed Kumar's gesture as a "late courtesy call" in a tweet on June 27 after the RJD supremo underwent a fistula surgery at a Mumbai-based hospital.