LJP talks tough before polls, NDA ties come under strain

PATNA/NEW DELHI: The Lok Janshakti Party, a constituent of the Bharatiya Janata party-led National Democratic Alliance, continued to talk tough ahead of the Bihar assembly elections scheduled to be held in OctoberNovember at its Bihar state parliamentary board meeting on Monday.

According to people familiar with the happenings at the meeting, the party’s state parliamentary board has authorized its chief Chirag Paswan to take a call on whether LJP will be part of the NDA for the upcoming polls. The party’s Central parliamentary board is expected to meet next week to take a decision on the matter said persons aware of the developments.

The JD(U) is also part of the alliance and in recent months Paswan has been critical of its leader, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

The state parliamentary board also decided to send a list of 143 candidates to the central parliamentary board said Raju Tiwari, president of the Bihar state parliamentary board.

As per functionaries aware of the details, the board asked Paswan to consider breaking away from the NDA, pointing out that there is a strong anti-incumbency factor against the current dispensation, of which the LJP is a part. “There is lot of anger against chief minister Nitish Kumar and the board authorised party chief, Chirag Paswan to take all decisions regarding the polls. It was pointed out to him that...the allies too would face consequences if they go into polls under his leadership,” said a functionary.

“Senior BJP leaders such as RK Singh and Sanjay Paswan have categorically said that while the BJP is capable of winning on its own, it respects its allies. For BJP, both JD(U) and LJP are allies, but JD(U) and the LJP don’t see each other as allies. So, it is a ticklish thing for the BJP to handle,” said former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, DM Diwakar.

While the BJP refrained from commenting on LJP’s stance; it has been asserting that the differences between allies will be sorted once formal talks begin.

In the 2015 elections, when JD(U) was part of the Grand Alliance (GA) of parties opposed to the BJP, the LJP contested 42 seats and could win just two.

However, its strike rate has been very good in the Lok Sabha elections. At present, it has six MPs in the Lok Sabha. It contested on as many seats.

Based on its Lok Sabha performance the LJP is seeking a seat sharing formula that will take into account the party’s performance in the last general election.

The central leadership of BJP and LJP are expected to meet next week to iron out differences, said a person aware of the details.