Bihar’s leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Wednesday said Lok Janshakti party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan, who has been at the receiving end following a rebellion in his party led by his uncle, was welcome to join the opposition alliance in the state led by his party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
LJP is a constituent of the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.
“It is for Chirag bhai to choose whether to stay with those propounding ‘Bunch of Thoughts”( reference to a book written by RSS ideologue M S Golwalkar) or join forces with those who believe in the principles of B R Ambedhkar who framed the Constitution,“ Yadav said.
He was talking to reporters upon his return to Patna after a two-month sojourn in New Delhi. This is the first time the RJD scion has spoken about the LJP following rebellion in the party in which five of its six MPs broke away from Chirag Paswan and threw their lot with his uncle and Hajipur MP Pashupati Kumar Paras.
Paswan, son of former union minister and LJP founder late Ram Vilas Paswan, is currently locked in a tough battle with Paras to regain control of the party.
While the Lok Sabha secretariat has recognised Paras as LJP’s leader in the House, the Election Commission of India is yet to decide as to which faction would retain the party symbol.
Paswan has also expressed his disappointment at the BJP’s silence on the rebellion in his party, saying he had always supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi wholeheartedly.
Yadav also took a swipe at chief minister Nitish Kumar over the LJP split, saying “everybody knows who masterminded the rebellion in the party”.
On his father Lalu Prasad’s health, Yadav said he was is recovering from his ailments and could return to Patna soon. Days after he got bail in April a series of fodder scam cases in which he was convicted, Prasad was released from AIIMS in Delhi where he was undergoing treatment for various ailments and is currently recuperating at his daughter Misa Bharti’s house in the nation capital.
Meanwhile, JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar hit out at Tejashwi Yadav. “Tejashwi is only busy on Twitter and has come back after the lockdown after coronavirus cases subsided in Bihar. It shows his commitment for the people of the state,” he said.
BJP’s state president Sanjay Jaiswal said the Yadav scion is more like a tourist to the state.
