Seat-sharing muddle in Bihar NDA: Now, Ram Vilas Paswan’s restive LJP gives BJP ultimatum till December 31

Bihar minister Pashupati Kumar Paras categorically said that LJP demands “proper respect” in NDA and that BJP national president Amit Shah must settle the seat-sharing issue consensually.
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan (File Photo | PTI)
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan (File Photo | PTI)

PATNA: Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), wary of being allotted fewer seats in NDA to contest in next year’s Lok Sabha polls than it has been demanding, on Wednesday gave BJP the ultimatum of December 31 to finalise the seat-sharing scheme for Bihar.

A day after LJP leader and the party’s parliamentary board chairman Chirag Paswan expressed his disappointment over the delay in a seat-sharing pact in Bihar’s NDA, his uncle and Bihar minister Pashupati Kumar Paras categorically said that LJP demands “proper respect” in NDA and that BJP national president Amit Shah must settle the seat-sharing issue consensually.

“Each drop counts for filling up a pond. Upendra Kushwaha (RLSP) and Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM) have left. BJP president Amit Shah must hold a meeting of the remaining three parties in Bihar NDA and have proper coordination before entering the electoral field,” said Paras, the animal and fisheries minister in Bihar’s NDA government.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, LJP had contested on seven seats and won six. While the party has been demanding seven seats to contest in the 2019 LS polls, BJP and JD(U) reportedly plan to give it only five seats. LJP is unwilling to accept any less than seven seats.

“The alliance (NDA) had four parties in Bihar, and the national presidents of these parties should have sat together to decide sharing of seats consensually. But JD(U) and BJP unilaterally decided on 50-50 seats for themselves. We do not know yet if this 50-50 arrangement is for 17 seats each or 18 or 19. They did not consult LJP,” said Paras.

Accusing BJP of not respecting LJP, he added: “If you (BJP) do not respect us as an ally and address our concerns, why would we run behind you? We demand proper respect, and if we do not get it, then we will choose from among the options open before us”.

“Upendra Kushwaha has left, but we are still with NDA. Yet we have not been told so far how many seats we would get to contest. We demand that a meeting of all allies be held latest by December 31 to finalise seat sharing,” said Paras.

Chirag Paswan, who is the LJP chief’s son and MP from Jamui, had tweeted on Tuesday: “NDA is passing through a delicate phase after TDP and RLSP left. Therefore BJP should address the concerns of the parties still with NDA with due respect before it is too late”.

“Several meetings were held with BJP leaders about the number of seats in the alliance (NDA), but nothing concrete has emerged so far. Unless the matter is settled in time, it could lead to losses,” Paswan had said in another tweet.

Meanwhile, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha, who walked out of NDA on December 10, advised LJP to snap ties with BJP immediately. “BJP is bent on destroying small regional parties. The sooner LJP quits NDA, the better it is for it,” said Kushwaha.

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