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After Tejashwi, Chirag Paswan not in favour of Bihar assembly polls amid Covid-19
In a series of tweets on Friday, LJP president Chirag Paswan clearly stated that he was not in favour of elections despite being prepared, as it could pose a serious risk to a large population and also put additional burden on the already burdened exchequer.
After Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, NDA ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has also voiced concern over holding of assembly elections in Bihar in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a series of tweets on Friday, LJP president Chirag Paswan clearly stated that he was not in favour of elections despite being prepared, as it could pose a serious risk to a large population and also put additional burden on the already burdened exchequer.
“LJP is prepared for election. LJP’s Bihar parliamentary board meeting verified the booth list for 94 seats and it will be completed for the remaining 149 seats also soon,” he tweeted.
The meeting was held on Thursday in New Delhi.
“However, due to the pandemic, the common man as well as the Central and state governments are financially strained. Under these circumstances, polls will put additional burden. All the parliamentary board members also expressed concern over it,” he tweeted.
Chirag again said in another tweet that the Election Commission should take a decision only after looking into all the aspects. “It should not happen that a big population is pushed into further danger due to election. An election in the midst of the pandemic could also lead to very low poll percentage, which will not be good for democracy,” he added.
With Covid-19 spreading to new areas in the state, including the VVIP areas, the Opposition RJD and Congress had last week launched a scathing attack on the state government for caring little for the masses and focusing more on preparations for the assembly polls.
“This is not the right time for elections. There has been an unprecedented increase in the coronavirus infection in the state, but the government seems unconcerned. The entire cabinet, administration and the government seem too busy with elections. The government is hiding figures. If the government doesn’t wake up, the situation may become explosive by August-September,” said leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, while speaking to the media.
However, Tejashwi and Chirag singing the same tune could have a different political meaning at a time when the Grand Alliance (GA) is also witnessing churning from within. Chirag has been quite critical of the way the Bihar government handled the pandemic and migrants’ issue in recent months and the JD-U has been upset with it.
LJP was also said to be the reason why the nomination of 12 seats from the governor’s quota to the Bihar legislative council also got stuck, as the JD-U was not in favour of accommodating it while the BJP wanted one seat for the ally.
Another Dalit leader and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM-S is in favour of holding the Bihar assembly polls. There has been a lot of speculation in the recent past about Manjhi’s likelihood of getting back into the NDA’s fold.
“The party is in favour of holding elections in Bihar on time. Our workers are ready and the EC can hold elections whenever it wants,” said HAM-S spokesperson Danish Rizwan.
