Just a couple of months ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar, seat-sharing tussle within the ruling NDA has become more interesting. The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) called a meeting of its current and former Members of Parliament on Wednesday in Delhi. The meeting authorised party chief Chirag Pas- wan to take a final call on the issue of contesting election under the leadership of JD-U supremo and current Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Just a day before this meeting, Chirag Paswan met BJP president J.P. Nadda at 11 pm on Tuesday in which, accord- ing to sources, he demanded that the BJP should contest on more seats than the JD-U. His demand was also endorsed in the meeting of the party’s current and former lawmakers in Delhi on Wednesday.
According to the press release sent by the LJP, in the meeting, Nitish Kumar was criticised for various administrative issues, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was lauded for launching many development projects in the state.LJP leaders present in the meeting criticised the Bihar government for poorly handling of Covid-19, the migrant crisis and flood management. Former MP Kali Pandey said that the LJP should field its candidates against all JD-U candidates. LJP leaders also condemned
JD-U leader Lallan Singh for comparing PM Modi with “Kalidas”.
A seat-sharing formula has become a very tricky issue within the NDA as Nitish Kumar’s trusted lieutenant K.C. Tyagi had recently said that their alliance is with the BJP and not with the LJP. Chirag Paswan has been continuously targeting CM Nitish Kumar over the issues of governance and handling of situations like floods and the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
The BJP has made it clear that Nitish Kumar will be the leader of the NDA for the upcoming elections and Paswan has maintained that his party will support whoever the BJP backs as the chief ministerial candidate in the polls.