Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The national executive of the Janata Dal (United), a key ally of the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition, on Saturday scrutinised the senior coalition partner BJP’s conduct during the general elections and possible reasons behind the electoral debacle.

Though the JD (U), which managed to send 20 newly-elected members to the 15th Lok Sabha, is not toying with the idea of severing its political links with the BJP, it was clear in its two-day national executive meeting that there was a lot of heartburn in the party over the playing up of certain issues by the BJP during the poll campaign. The meeting discussed the dismal performance of the NDA across the country in the Lok Sabha polls.

Introspection and scrutiny, yes, but the national executive did not witness any proposal or demand by any of its members to part ways with the BJP. Briefing journalists after the meeting, JD (U) spokesperson Shivanand Tewari admitted that there were some “irritants” in the party’s relations with the BJP but said there was no talk of a break-up in the alliance.

“There was no talk of breaking our relationship with BJP in the meeting. In Orissa, BJD chief Naveen Patnaik might have had some such problem with BJP but in Bihar no such problem has cropped up,” Mr. Tewari told reporters. However, he said there were some complaints in JD(U) units in a few States against the BJP’s style of functioning.