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War of words between LJP, JD(U); Chirag says CM’s party playing truant with BJP
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan on Sunday hinted at the internecine battle within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and exhorted the LJP cadres to vote for the BJP wherever the LJP has not fielded its candidates.
This time around, the voters in Bihar are in a fix while deciding who is with whom. As the assembly election reaches its climax, the confusion is only confounding with the LJP accusing the JD(U) of playing truant with the BJP and the JD(U) blaming the LJP of being hand in glove with the RJD.
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan on Sunday hinted at the internecine battle within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and exhorted the LJP cadres to vote for the BJP wherever the LJP has not fielded its candidates.
In a tweet, posted almost around the same time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was completing his third leg of Bihar campaigning in Bihar, Chirag said, “Nitish Kumar and his leaders are trying to damage the prospects of the BJP on the seats it is contesting. Wherever LJP is not contesting, I appeal to all Bihar people to stand by BJP candidates. Give your blessings to LJP-BJP for a Nitish Kumar-free Bihar #ImpossibleNitish.”
Chirag also attached a newspaper clip in which Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar accused Bhalpur JD(U) MP Ajay Mandal of resorting to anti-NDA activities.
Also read: Nitish will quit NDA after polls, to challenge Modi in 2024 - Chirag Paswan
Hitherto, Chirag was accused of playing as the B-team of the BJP to harm the prospects of the JD(U) and the LJP leader himself never hid his aversion for Nitish Kumar and liking for PM Narendra Modi.
However, there was always a lurking fear that the LJP’s gameplan of reducing the size of the JD(U) might end up increasing the size of the RJD. “It was always considered a double-edged sword as political planning can vary from people’s planning. The way BJP has been batting for Nitish Kumar goes in contrast to the LJP’s posturing which has only added to the confusion for the electorate,” said political analyst NK Choudhary.
During the day, Chirag had also tweeted a newspaper clip on income tax raids on contractors involved with Bihar’s ‘nal-jal’ yojana, one of the seven resolves of the chief minister and one which has been under attack for corruption by the LJP and RJD alike, and termed it the “biggest scam”.
The JD(U), on the other hand, hit back at Chirag Paswan, accusing him of being hand in glove with the RJD leader Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav and playing ‘dirty politics’.
“The DNA of both the leaders matches and that is why he is openly talking in the language of Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. By questioning ‘7 Resolves’, he is also questioning his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who as minister also endorsed it. The ‘Chirag’ will also extinguish like the lantern in Bihar and he will lose all the assembly seats under his own Lok Sabha constituency,” said JD(U) spokesman and minister Neeraj Kumar.
JD(U) general secretary and minister Sanjay Jha said that by his actions and baseless allegations, Chirag was fast losing relevance in the eyes of the people and he would realize it when his party would perform miserably in the election.
Earlier, Chirag had attacked both JD(U) and RJD for their job offers at the time of election despite having ruled for 15 years each in Bihar. “In the last five years, the government could not even fill the vacant sanctioned posts and now they are giving lollypop of jobs. The LJP will fill all the sanctioned posts and clear the decks for investment,” he said, posting a clip of his vision document.
