The Lok Janshakti Party, an NDA ally, on Saturday, 23 March dismissed the SP-BSP tie-up in Uttar Pradesh as opportunistic, and challenged Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati to declare a Muslim as the chief ministerial candidate in the assembly polls in the state. LJP founding president and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said,
‘Both SP and BSP care only for their own interests. They have joined hands in the name of safeguarding the interests of the minorities, but actually they are not confident of taking on the BJP on their own steam. If they (SP, BSP) are so concerned about the minorities let them declare a Muslim as the chief ministerial candidate when the next assembly polls are held.’
Paswan asserted that the LJP, as well as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of JD(U), have maintained an independent position on issues like Article 370, Ayodhya, and the Uniform Civil Code despite being in the BJP-led NDA and sought to dismiss misgivings about interests of the lower castes and minorities being trampled upon by the saffron party.
“Fears were raised when the SC/ST Act was diluted vide a Supreme Court order. We got it fixed through a constitutional amendment. There have been many more similar instances,” Paswan stressed.
Referring to the spurt in nationalistic sentiment after the Pulwama terror attack which is seen by some as a ploy to polarise Hindu votes, Paswan mentioned the Election Commission directive restraining parties from using images of the armed forces when campaigning for the coming Lok Sabha polls.
Paswan, who was speaking shortly after NDA candidates for 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar were announced, replied in the negative when asked whether his decision not to contest from Hajipur indicated that he wanted to retire from active politics. Paswan is the sitting MP of Hajipur and has represented it a number of times in the past.
‘One retires only when one is tired. It has been 50 years since I began my political career as an MLA in 1969. The time has come to allow younger ones to flourish. I am going to seek a Rajya Sabha berth in any case.’Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister and Founding President of LJP
He also insisted that the decision to field his younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras from Hajipur was not an example of dynasty politics. “Nor is it a consequence of my brother’s ambition,” he said.
(This PTI story has been edited for length.)
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