BJP-led coalition facing infighting over state polls

NEW DELHI, Jan 22: India's ruling Hindu nationalist-led coalition faced unexpected infighting within its ranks today in the run up to crucial state elections next month, officials said, reports AFP.

The upcoming polls in four state assemblies are the first popularity test since Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee led his multi-party alliance to a decisive victory in nationwide parliamentary elections in September-October.

Vajpayee would need to win in all the states to prove he remained popular and to dispel the widely-held notion that last year's election showing was due to India's military victory over Muslim militants in Kashmir.

But two of Vajpayee's key allies have fallen out bitterly in recent days over the battle strategy in the most important of the four states going to the polls -- Bihar in the country's east.

The sparring between the two allies -- one led by Defence Minister George Fernandes and other by Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav -- has embarrassed Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist BJP party.

The Hindu nationalists had been desperately hoping for a joint campaign among all allies to unseat Bihar's maverick chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, who has ruled the populous state since 1990.

The other states going to the polls next month are Manipur in the north-east, cyclone-ravaged Orissa on the east coast and Haryana which borders New Delhi.

The Hindu nationalists are, however, keen on a victory in Bihar, which along with adjoining Uttar Pradesh state is considered the political heartland of India.

The infighting erupted after the parties led by Fernandes and Sharad Yadav failed to merge by law, forcing the autonomous Election Commission to give the latter exclusive leadership of their centrist Janata Dal (People's Party).

A peeved Fernandes and his supporters on Friday walked out of the party and asked the parliament speaker to recognise them as a separate entity.

The decision split the 22-member Janata Dal, the third largest constituent in the ruling alliance. Some officials warned the break-up could impact on the federal government's stability too.

"In the long run, it will affect the government," a Janata Dal leader said. "There are bound to be long-term repercussions."