As soon as LJP (Ramvilas Paswan) chief and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan set out on Monday to campaign for BJP candidates for the November 3 Mokama and Gopalganj bypolls , announcing that the talks of alliance were also on between the two parties, Bihar chief minister Nitish was quick to point out that it was a known thing since 2020 Assembly polls.
“He is doing the right thing. Who had got candidates fielded against JD-U? It is all on expected lines,” Kumar told reporters while deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was standing next to him.
Kumar said he was not going to campaign due to his injury, but the feedback was that RJD candidates would win on both the seats.
Chirag, on the other hand, said the contradictions in the Grand Alliance (GA) were so apparent that the CM was giving a message by keeping himself away from campaigning for by-elections. “The people of Mokama Know what led to by-election there? It is an irony that JD-U president (Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh), who was instrumental behind it, is campaigning for the RJD candidate. He played a key role in getting Anant Singh disqualified. I have been in talks with the BJP over alliance and soon I will again meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah. The alliance will be on the issues LJP has been fighting for,” he said.
Chirag, who did a roadshow in Mokama on his birthday, said he and his father late Ram Vilas Paswan were uneasy even in 2017 when Nitish Kumar had switched sides and realigned with BJP. “Nitish Kumar was always uncomfortable with the growing stature of my father. In Mokama, LJP had also contested earlier and secured good votes. We are firmly with BJP,” he said.
Chirag has been vocal in his opposition to Nitish Kumar. “I admit I fought in 2020 to cut JD-U to size. I was never there to help JD-U,” he said.
