Ahead of Bihar’s upcoming assembly elections, Union Interior Minister Amit Shah said that the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) led by Chirag Paswan decided to go solo despite being offered a reasonable number of seats and several attempts at negotiations were made.
In an exclusive interview with editor-in-chief Rahul Joshi, Shah said: “As far as the BJP-JDU-LJP coalition is concerned, the LJP was offered a reasonable number of seats over and over again by both the BJP and for the JDU. Several negotiations also took place. I personally spoke with Chirag many times. “
Explaining the reason behind the failed negotiations, he said: “This time, we have new members of the coalition, therefore the number of seats per party was destined to decrease. The JDU and the BJP also gave up some seats. But it couldn’t. “t eventually materialize with the LJP. One-sided comments were also made, the result of which was reflected in the party workers, making it difficult to stay in one field. However, even after that we did not break the coalition, they made the official announcement to do so. “
On whether the LJP can be back in the post-NDA elections, Shah said: “The people of Bihar understand why and by whom the coalition was broken. We will see after the elections if the LJP joins the NDA. We are opponents now and we will contest accordingly. “
Earlier this month, the LJP had withdrawn from the ruling NDA in Bihar after attacking the chief minister, Nitish Kumar, and announcing that it would fight the JD (U) candidates in the elections. Paswan will start campaigning for his party’s 143 candidates from October 21.
“Although PM Modi is in my heart and I believe in his ideologies and development model, the LJP is not using his photograph on their posters. Also, Nitish ji seems to be more desperate to use the prime minister’s photos on his posters than anyone else. He knows there is strong opposition to the charges against him and he is probably thinking that the image of Prime Minister Modi could save him, ”Paswan had previously said.
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