The Chirag Paswan LJP has cited “ideological differences” at the state level as the reason for the change.
Chandigarh:
Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti party has decided to do everything possible to unseat Nitish Kumar from the list, nullifying the technicality that both parties are part of the NDA. At a meeting in Delhi today, the LJP decided to present candidates against the ruler Janata Dal United of Kumar. No candidate will run against the BJP and “all the winning candidates will form a BJP-LJP government,” the party said after the meeting.
Rajiv Ranjan, a spokesman for Janata Dal United, said that as long as the BJP-Nitish Kumar alliance remains intact, “we have no confusion about getting a strong majority.” A section of the NDA leaders suggested that the Chirag Paswan move (keeping Nitish Kumar on target for months) could not have happened without the tacit support of top BJP leaders.
The LJP has cited “ideological differences” at the state level as the reason for the change and said it wants to implement the “Bihar vision document” on which it has not reached a consensus with the JD (U).
“However, we have a strong alliance with the BJP and even in Bihar, we want to continue this collaboration. There is no bitterness in our relations,” the party said.
The LJP’s decision comes at the end of a months-long fight with the JD (U) over a number of issues, including handling the state of the coronavirus crisis and Kumar’s joining of forces with former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. , a Dalit leader like the Paswans with overlapping base of support. Within the party, Chirag Paswan has had no qualms about expressing his ambitions for the top job.
The LJP had also demanded an early decision on the seating division. But there has been no response from the BJP. Despite the fact that the LJP has repeatedly made clear that it would compete against JD (U) unless it is awarded a fair share of the seats, the BJP has so far been silent on the issue.
Last week, the LJP gave the BJP an ultimatum in a meeting with the head of the party, JP Nadda. But it did not speed up the process as desired.
Earlier today, according to sources, according to the seat sharing agreement, the JDU will get 122 of the 243 seats, while the BJP will have 121. The BJP is expected to provide seats for the Lok Janshakti Party on their behalf.
But without a decision from the BJP, the LJP made its decision this afternoon at a meeting in Delhi. His decision comes at a time when the party’s chief, Ram Vilas Paswan, is ill and underwent heart surgery.
Sources said Chirag Paswan was hurt when Nitish Kumar never asked about his father’s health, which top BJP leaders such as Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi did.
A similar strategy had worked for the LJP in 2005, when the party played a pivotal role in preventing Lalu Yadav’s RJD from winning another term in government. The LJP, an ally of Congress-RJD at the time, had contested the polls only against Yadav’s party, resulting in a hung assembly. In subsequent polls, Kumar won enough seats to form his first government.
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