JD-U AVOIDS QUERY ON PADMA AWARD TO PASWAN

Patna, Jan. 26: The JD(U) squirmed at suggestions that a posthumous Padma Bhushan award for former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan indicated the BJP’s fondness for the LJP, founded by the late leader and headed by his son Chirag who has turned renegade.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, de facto leader of the JD(U) who has known Paswan senior for many decades, had on Monday night come out with a statement expressing delight over a number of people from Bihar, including the late leader, receiving the Padma awards.

At a function organised at the JD(U) headquarters on the occasion of Republic Day, journalists sought reaction on Padma Bhushan for Paswan from R.C.P. Singh, a key aide of Kumar who replaced his mentor as the party president last month. A former career bureaucrat, Singh sought to wriggle out with a generic reply.

“We extend our congratulations to all distinguished persons who have received the civilian honours. We extend the same to family members of those on whom these have been conferred posthumously,” he said. However, when journalists persisted with a pointed query as to whether the development indicated that the BJP still had a soft corner for the LJP, which has opened a front against Kumar and his party but swears by its loyalty towards the saffron outfit, Singh snapped back.

The JD(U) rank and file has squarely blamed its poor show in the recent Assembly polls on the rebellion of Chirag Paswan.