Chirag in NDA meet on Prez poll preparation, says his presence due to support to Murmu

NEW DELHI: Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan on Sunday attended a meeting of the BJP-led NDA on the presidential poll preparation, a significant development as he had kept away from the ruling alliance’s gatherings after walking out of the coalition during the 2020 Bihar assembly polls.

Paswan, however, said that attending the meeting did not mean he was again a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The second-term Lok Sabha MP walked into the venue of the meeting along with several other MPs, mostly from the BJP, where a demonstration on the voting for the presidential poll was given on the eve of the election.

The Jamui MP, however, said later that his presence at the meeting was because of his support to the ruling alliance’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. She also joined the MPs later.

Paswan said he was invited to attend the meeting. “It does not mean that I am part of the NDA,” he said.

Paswan had quit the NDA in Bihar due to his opposition to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), the biggest alliance member after the BJP.

He had then claimed that he remained a BJP ally at the national level and had quit the grouping in Bihar for state-specific reasons.

However, the JD(U)’s stiff resistance ensured that he did not attend NDA meetings.

The BJP’s invitation to him to attend a ruling alliance’s meeting ahead of Parliament’s budget session had invited a sharp reaction from Kumar’s party, leading to Paswan skipping it. JD(U) MPs, including its president Lalan Singh, also attended the meeting held in the Parliament complex on Sunday. Paswan’s relations with the BJP had also soured after his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras split the Lok Janshakti Party and was joined by all other party MPs.

The Paras faction was recognised as the real LJP in Lok Sabha, and he was sworn in as a minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

Paswan, however, said that attending the meeting did not mean he was again a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)