LJP skips NDA meet on budget session strategy
NEW DELHI: Differences between the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party led to the latter’s absence from a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners on Saturday, people aware of the developments said.
The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was held to discuss the NDA’S strategy for the Budget Session of Parliament.
A person aware of the developement said the JD(U) took umbrage at the invitation sent to LJP chief Chirag Paswan earlier this month to attend the meeting. The two parties have been at loggerheads since the LJP attacked the JD(U) ahead of last year’s assembly election in Bihar and launched a campaign against chief minister Nitish Kumar. The LJP had demanded that the BJP contest the Bihar polls without JD(U) as a partner.
“After the JD(U) protested, the BJP leadership conveyed to Paswan that he was not expected at the virtual meeting of the NDA allies,” a functionary aware of the details said on condition of anonymity. Paswan earlier said that while he was invited to attend the meeting, he planned to skip it on health grounds. He also did not attend an all-party meeting chaired by the Prime Minister earlier in the day.
Paswan has been praising PM Modi and even asserted that he would continue to support the BJP at the Centre after pulling out of the coalition in Bihar. A
senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymity that the LJP cannot be a partner of the NDA at the Centre while it walked out of the alliance in Bihar and targeted the JD(U), with which the BJP runs a coalition government in the state.
Paswan could not be reached for a comment. The JD(U)’S KC Tyagi told PTI that his party does not consider the LJP as an NDA ally.
At the NDA meeting, PM Modi urged the leaders to use “facts” to counter the “misgivings” created by the Opposition over three farm laws that have triggered farmer protests.
According to a person with knowledge of the meeting, the Prime Minister said the opposition parties will try to create misconceptions about the farm laws
in the wake of the upcoming assembly elections, but these attempts should be thwarted using facts and data.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said the PM pointed out that this decade was a very important one, just like the decade after the Second World War and unlike earlier, we are not going to be a mute spectator. “We will rise to the occasion based on our traditions and ideals of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the prime minister added,” Joshi said.
“Addressing the meeting of NDA leaders, Prime Minister Shri @Narendramodi ji today said that after the pandemic, a new world order is about to take shape & India has a big role to play in the emerging new world order,” Joshi tweeted.