NEW DELHI: In the midst of internal bickering, LJP today announced candidates for nine seats for Bihar polls, fielding former MP and strongman Kaali Pandey from Kuchaykot and Vijay Singh from Chakai Assembly seat over which it was at loggerheads with Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM.
Announcing the second list of candidates, LJP Parliamentary Board chairman Chirag Paswan said the selection of candidates for first phase of polls on October 12 has been completed for which the date of filing nomination ends on Wednesday.
With names of nine candidates announced today of which six will will contest in the first phase, LJP has annoucned candidates for a total of 21 seats out of 40, which was alloted under the seat sharing of NDA announced a last week.
LJP President Ram Vilas Paswan's son-in-law Anil Kumar Sadhu had on Saturday raised a banner of revolt against him over denial of ticket for the Bihar Assembly elections and announced his decision to field Dalit Sena candidates in all the districts to defeat NDA nominees.
Asked about the rebellion by a family members, Chirag said the matter would be resolved among the family elders.
"I am too junior to him to comment anything publicly. This is a family matter and will be resolved by the elders," he said.
Calling Sadhu an elder brother and a family member, he said that family is a very sensitive thing for him and he won't like to discuss it in public.
Sadhu, who wanted to enter the fray from Kutumba (reserved seat in Aurangabad district), was upset over the seat allotted to former chief minister and HAM founder Jitan Ram Manjhi's son Santosh Kumar Suman.
He said he was not given a ticket though his younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras and Prince Raj, son of Ramchandra Paswan another MP brother of the LJP chief and another relative at Sonbarsa were given tickets.
About the resignation of Vaishali Lok Sabha MP and party general Ramakishore Singh from the party, Chirag said he won't comment on the remarks made by the former MP and this was a matter to be resolved by senior leaders of the party.
"When a person is angry, he says many things. As time passes, things will be normalised," he said.
Chirag said that he has only followed the criteria of winnability in giving tickets.
"Out of the nine candidates, six are for the first phase. With this the list for first phase is over now. Remaining three are from second, third and fourth phase," he said.
Chirag said the party has reached a consensus with BJP on all 40 seats including on Jamui and Chakai.
The party was earlier making claims for both the seats.
However, Chirag today said the party has agreed to contest only Chakai seat. Jamui has gone to the BJP.
"Every alliance has its own compulsions. Our main purpose is to form a strong NDA government in Bihar. But if we keep on fighting within ourselves, it will have a bad impact on alliance parties. So we decided that out of Jamui and Chakai, one will be contested by BJP and one by us," he said.
The party has fielded Vijay Singh from Chakai constituency.
Kali Panday will contest form Kuchaykot, Arvind Kumar Singh from Bachchwaraa, Neeraj Mandal from Kahalgaon, Mithilesh Kumar Nishad from Beldaur, Mohammad Aslam from Sahebpur Kalam, Chandreshwar Rai Yada from Waris Nagar, Arvind Singh from Atari and Kanhaiya Singh from Mokama.
Days after sulking over seat- sharing formulae, LJP had on Friday last declared its first list of 12 candidates for Bihar polls, which had names of Paswan's brother and nephew.
LJP had an issue about some rebel JD(U) MLAs contesting assembly polls.
In June itself, the LJP had made it clear that it would oppose five present and former MLAs associated with Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha in Assembly polls notwithstanding its decision to welcome the outfit into the BJP-led coalition.
They included dissident JD(U) MLA and former agriculture minister Narendra Singh's two MLA sons - Ajay Pratap (Jamui) and Sumit Kumar Singh (Chakai), disqualified MLAs Raju Singh (Sahebganj) and Ajit Kumar (Kanti), besides Anil Kumar (Tekari). Some of them had deserted the LJP in the past.
Narendra Singh, a former state LJP president, had split the party in 2005 and walked out with a dozen MLAs after the electorate had given a fractured mandate in the assembly polls.