JD(U) general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Shivanand Tiwari has struck a discordant note, embarrassing Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Excerpts from an interview with Panini Anand:
You are now a dissenter?
It’s not about my party. There’s a Mogambo in every party. If we are democratic, we must listen to disagreements, be more open to criticism and listen to our workers. This helps the party too.
Don’t you think your statement praising Modi and saying he mustn’t be taken lightly was badly timed?
I don’t think so. Where can one raise these issues if not at the party’s own chintan shivir? I didn’t speak at a public meeting! In any case, the shivir has become a day’s affair now. People speak from a dais, but where is room for dissent or opportunity to get worker’s views?
So you accept the BJP is a big threat to parties like yours?
Where is the BJP? Nowhere in Bihar....
