Paswan tough on ally BJP in bid to avoid Dalit blowback
in the next year’s general election, the first of the two LJP leader quoted above said. “We need to correct this image. We cannot let our support base erode like that,” the leader said.
It gets difficult to shed the blame for certain decisions that goes against the interest of Dalits, the second LJP leader said. “Our cadre is asking difficult questions to us. We need to take a position,” he said. “We know removing Goel will not be possible. But we need to make a noise. His appointment (as the head of the NGT) is seen as a reward to someone who has dealt a blow to the Dalit cause.”
Chirag, however, struck a cautious note and said there was no contradiction with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “strengthened” the SC/ST Act in the four years of his rule.
In an interview to this newspaper in April, Ram Vilas Paswan had said that the Modi government, despite its commitment to protect interests of Dalits, deals with a “perception problem”, which it needs to address immediately. “VP Singh changed his perception within nine months; this government has one year left,” Paswan had said in the interview.
“There is panic in the ranks of caste-based parties aligned with the BJP after the Supreme Court judgment and the UGC (University Grants Commission) order (suggesting to now calculate reservations for teachers department-wise instead of aggregate posts in a university),” said Sidharth Mishra, professor at the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies. “It is a matter of political survival for him. In flexing his muscles on an issue that is closer to his core constituency, Paswan is also keeping options open for any future alignment with parties other than the BJP.”
The NDA won 32 out of 40 seats of Bihar in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. While the BJP con- tested on 30 seats, the LJP put up candidates on seven and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party of Upendra Kushwaha on four (there was a friendly contest between the BJP and the RLSP on the fourth seat).
The return of Nitish Kumar in the NDA fold has upset this calculation, though, with LJP leaders fearing it could mean a slash in their share. The Janata Dal (United) of Kumar fielded candidates in 38 seats and won 2.
“Our leadership is clear that we will not cede any of the six seats that we won,” the first LJP leader said. “Nitish Kumar is Bihar chief minister and Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister. We have base only in Bihar. We cannot afford contesting on lesser number of seats.”
The second LJP leader said, “We did not forge an alliance with the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) in 2014 because the Congress offered just two seats to us. If we did not accept it then, how can we accept it in 2019?”
The first leader said contesting at least six seats is also necessary for the LJP to get 6% of total valid votes – a requirement to keep its ‘state party status’ alive.