Lok Janshakti Party or LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has said his party was in talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a tie-up and that he may also campaign for it for an assembly by-poll in Bihar on December 8.
Five LJP Members of Parliament rebelled against Paswan, a Lok Sabha member, in June 2021 and formed Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) which is in alliance with the BJP. LJP’s lone lawmaker in Bihar joined the ruling Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), which quit the BJP-led ruling alliance this year and formed the government with Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, and the Left parties.
Speaking on the sidelines of a function to mark LJP’s 23rd foundation on Monday, Paswan ducked a question over the number of seats LJP (Ram Vilas) was expected to get as part of the coalition with the BJP in assembly and Lok Sabha elections. He added this would be announced once the alliance is finalised.
Paswan said there will be snap polls in Bihar along with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, citing growing differences within the ruling alliance in the state. He said his party’s leader Raju Tiwari was in talks with the state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal over his role in the campaigning for the by-poll.
RLJP leader and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras has announced his support for the BJP candidate.
Paswan, whose late father Ram Vilas Paswan founded the LJP, hit out at Nitish Kumar for its failure in taking Bihar forward. He backed BJP leader Giriraj Singh’s demand for a law to curb population growth.
Paras, who also organised a programme to mark LJP’s foundation day, dismissed Paswan’s claim about talks with the BJP. “I asked him [before the split] to stay in the [BJP-led] NDA [National Democratic Alliance], but he did not listen to me.”
There was no immediate response from the BJP, which has been left without any major ally in Bihar.
The BJP has been unable to form the government in the state, which sends the third highest (40) number of lawmakers to Parliament, on its own despite its successes elsewhere in the country.
