New Delhi:
In a sign of trouble for the NDA, party leader Rashtriya Lok Janshakti and Union Minister Pashupati Paras has said that all five MPs from his party, including himself, will contest from their respective seats in Bihar. He has also warned that his party is “free to go anywhere”.
Paras' statement comes amid reports that the alliance has finalized the seat distribution for the state and decided not to leave any seats, including the RLJP chief's Hajipur constituency, to his party.
As part of the NDA's seat-sharing agreement in Bihar, five seats have reportedly been allotted to the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Paras' cousin Chirag Paswan. The party will also contest the Hajipur seat, which has been won nine times since 1977 by Chirag Paswan's father and Mr Paras' brother Ram Vilas Paswan.
The Lok Janshakti Party founded by Mr Paswan had split into the RLJP and the LJP (Ram Vilas) in 2021, a year after its leader's death, following moves by Mr Paras.
While expressing disappointment over the NDA's decision on Friday, Paras also left the door open for the alliance. He said his party remains a member of the NDA and has not spoken to the INDIA opposition group, but warned that things could change if his party does not get “due respect”.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, the RLJP chief said in Hindi: “We are part of the NDA and we have honestly maintained our alliance. I respect Prime Minister Modi, Mr Shah and the BJP President. The news we receive from the media is that our party has not been given any preference.”
“Many of our employees are disappointed. People in politics are not ascetics, they have to mingle with the people who are supreme. We would request the Prime Minister, Mr Shah and Mr Nadda to reconsider. We will wait for the BJP list to be announced. After that, if we don't get the due respect, we are independent. Our doors are open. We are free to go anywhere,” he said.
Claiming that justice has not been done to his party, Mr Paras also pointed out that his party was a Dalits party and not giving tickets to Paswan candidates would send a wrong message to the country. “We are waiting for them to reconsider their views,” he said.
Chirag Paswan had said on Wednesday that the seat-sharing agreement between him and the BJP has been sealed. The formula, according to sources, is that the BJP will contest 17 of the state's 40 seats, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United 16, Mr Paswan five and Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi's party one each.
The BJP will also be keen to keep Mr Paras in the fold as the NDA, including the then undivided LJP, had won 39 seats in the state, sending the fourth highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha. With the RJD-Congress coalition in Bihar looking stronger than in 2019, the state will be crucial in helping the BJP achieve its goal of winning 370 seats on its own and 400 as part of the NDA.