NEW DELHI: Snubbed by the BJP in the Jharkhand Assembly elections over seat-sharing, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Sunday sought to pressure the former by demanding the appointment of the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) convenor.
Newly appointed LJP chief Chirag Paswan listed the number of NDA allies who had exited the ruling alliance to drive home his argument for better coordination within the NDA.
“We felt the absence of the Shiv Sena in today’s NDA meeting. The Sena was the oldest member of the NDA,” Paswan said.
Incidentally, the BJP’s another long term ally, the All Jharkhand Students Union, is also contesting the state elections separately.
Paswan’s demand for an NDA convenor has come after a long gap since TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who held the post last, quit the ruling alliance in the run-up to the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.
The NDA hasn’t found any replacement for him yet.
At present, BJP chief Amit Shah is handling NDA coordination as well. But with Shah becoming the Union minister for home affairs, NDA allies appear to be finding the BJP leadership inaccessible.
When Chirag had met the BJP’s Jharkhand election in-charge and party vice president Om Prakash Mathur to press for seat adjustment, he was advised to speak to Shah on it, sources said.
Chirag later announced the LJP’s decision to go it alone in Jharkhand polls.