Bihar polls: LJP finally walks out of NDA, but says will back BJP

After keeping the NDA on tenterhooks, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Sunday decided to go it alone in the Bihar assembly elections citing ideological differences with

After keeping the NDA on tenterhooks, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Sunday decided to go it alone in the Bihar assembly elections citing ideological differences with the JD-U, but with a clear objective of ensuring a BJP-led government in Bihar.

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At the parliamentary board meeting chaired by LJP president Chirag Paswan, the party went on the much speculated lines resolving not to contest under the leadership of chief minister Kumar. However, to reiterate its stance for the BJP, the parliamentary board adopted a resolution that called for all LJP legislators to strengthen PM Modi.

“The LJP wants that on the lines of the Centre, Bihar should also have a BJP-led government. After election results, all the LJP MLAs will work to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said a statement issued by LJP principal general secretary Abdul Khalik.

The LJP is likely to contest on nearly 125 seats, most of which will be fought by JD (U) also.

How this would pan out will be interesting to watch in a state where it was hitherto considered a direct National Democratic Alliance (NDA) vs Grand Alliance (GA) fight, though Bihar has had a history of ‘friendly contests’ to alter the course of election.

THE IDEOLOGICAL BATTLE

LJP has also made it clear at the outset that its decision could lead to ideological battle with the JD-U over seats especially with LJP president Chirag Paswan being openly critical of Bihar chief minister and JDU chief Nitish Kumar, accusing him of failing to meet poll promises of ushering in development in the state.

This could create a piquant situation for the JD-U as also the BJP, as in case of small margins of victory split of votes will matter a lot.

By maintaining that it wanted to continue with the arrangement that existed for the Lok Sabha election and focus on its ‘Bihar first, Bihari first’ vision document for the state’s development, it has put the onus of decision on the JD-U, while maintaining that there was no love lost with the BJP.

DRAWING PARALLELS WITH DIFFERENT TARGET

The LJP decision takes one back to 2005 when LJP fought alone with the sole objective of ending the 15-year rule of the RJD. Though it could not win many seats, its ability to split crucial votes made it a bit easier for the NDA to form government. After 15 years, it is doing the same with a different target – this time chief minister Nitish Kumar.

In the two elections in 2005 February and October, LJP had contested on its own, contesting 178 and 203 seats respectively. However, it won just 10 seats in the October polls compared to 29 in February, but enough to make it easier for the Nitish-led NDA to end the 15-year-old RJD rule.

Though LJP bagged six seats each in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections with nearly 100% strike rate in the company of NDA, it struggled badly in the Assembly elections of 2010 and 2015, bagging just two and three seats respectively in the 243-member assembly. In 2010, it had contested 75 seats, while in 2015 it fought on 40 seats.

UNDERDOGS OR KINGMAKERS

Though LJP has never been a big player in Bihar politics, it has often played deft politics to end up on the right side since its inception in 2000, when Ram Vilas Paswan set up his own outfit after splitting from the Janata Dal on the issue of joining the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Two decades later, LJP has undergone generational shift, with Chirag Paswan as the national president and his cousin and former MP Ramchandra Paswan’s son Prince Raj the state president. This has resulted in rising ambition of the party to expand its footprints, with Chirag being projected as CM candidate even at the cost of antagonizing Nitish Kumar.

The 2020 election will be a big test for the LJP, as it would be the first election under the new and young leadership without patron union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who is ailing.

FRIENDLY CONTEST

Earlier, the party earlier had hinted at following the Manipur model in Bihar, where the party contested the 2017 assembly elections alone and later its only MLA joined the BJP government.

In Manipur, the LJP had announced candidates for 11 constituencies, but won a single seat. In 2014, during the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir and the 2019 assembly election in Jharkhand on its own, even as it was part of the NDA at the centre.

Persons aware of the details said, the party will opt to have a friendly contest against the NDA partners, though the LJP leadership had qualified earlier that they will put up contestants against the JDU and not the BJP.

The LJP leadership had announced last month that the party will contest 143 of the 243 seats, if it fails to reach an agreement with the BJP on seat sharing.

PASWAN UNDERGOES HEART SURGERY 

In another development, Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party patron Ram Vilas Paswan has undergone a heart surgery, his son Chirag said on Sunday.

Paswan ,74, who has been in active politics for more than five decades and is one of the country’s most noted Dalit leaders, has been hospitalised for the last few weeks.

He was operated upon at a private hospital in the national capital. He has long suffered from a heart condition and family sources expressed confidence that he will soonrecover.

In a tweet, Chirag said his father underwent a heart surgery due to sudden developments on Saturday evening, which forced him to cancel a party meeting and rush to his father’s side.

If needed, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution will undergo another operation in a few weeks, he said.

(With agency inputs)