File photo of union minister Ram Vilas Paswan with his son and LJP chief Chirag Paswan. (PTI)
Chirag, the son of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, has in the past expressed his ambition to serve as the state’s chief minister.
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- Last update: September 12, 2020 8:33 PM IST
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As the elections to the Bihar Assembly approach, there have been wishes for a rift between Party allies Lok Janshakti and Janata Dal (United) over the main ministerial candidate. However, dismissing the rumors, LJP chief Chirag Paswan said on Saturday: “I have no problem with Nitish Kumar’s name as the image of the NDA.”
“I agree with any Tom, Dick or Harry chosen by the BJP,” NDTV quoted the 37-year-old leader, who has criticized Bihar’s chief minister on managing the floods and the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. .
In setting certain conditions for the alliance, Paswan said the partners must agree to a common minimum program that includes their campaign “Bihar First and Bihari First” and said he was not willing to work on Kumar’s commitment to ‘seven resolves’, announced . before the 2015 elections.
Chirag, the son of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, has in the past expressed his ambition to serve as the chief minister of the state.
Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar held a crucial meeting with BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda on Saturday about the allocation of seats among the NDA alliance partners for the assembly elections scheduled for October-November.
Paswan has also called a meeting of all party MPs on September 16, as the party continues to deliberate on whether to fight the JD (U) in the upcoming elections. LJP sources said the meeting will also consider the party’s Bihar unit’s proposal that it should contest 143 seats in elections to the 243-member state assembly.
The LJP has six members in the state’s Lok Sabha and one member of the Rajya Sabha is its founder and Union minister, Ram Vilas Paswan. The party also hopes that, by the time of the meeting, there will be clarity on the seat-sharing agreement between the two main parties of the National Democratic Alliance, the JD (U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP.
LJP sources said that any attempt to undermine the party’s position in the state will prompt it to do everything possible against JD (U). They said that the JD (U) has been working to undermine the LJP. They cited the ruling party’s decision to join Dalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, who has a history of attacking the LJP, a party whose base is primarily among Dalits, as another attempt in this regard.
It is likely that in the next few days the calendar of elections to the assembly in the state will be announced. The Electoral Commission has indicated that it would like to conclude the exercise before the term of the current Chamber ends on November 29.
With PTI inputs
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