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NEW DELHI/ PATNA: Citing ideological differences with chief minister Nitish Kumar, LJP on Sunday walked out of NDA in Bihar, clearing the way for JD(U) and BJP to apportion the 243 seats for the upcoming state election.
The decision of the Dalit outfit caused few surprises because it had already snapped ties with JD(U), rendering its presence in the Bihar alliance untenable.
Though party chief Chirag Paswan consistently took pains to emphasise their faith in PM Narendra Modi, BJP, which has already declared Nitish to be its CM choice, found it impossible to meet his demand for 30 seats solely at its expense.
In his parting statement on Sunday, Chirag directed his fire-power at Nitish, stressing once again LJP’s “strong ties” with BJP and that it would remain part of NDA at the national level.
“There is no bitterness between LJP and BJP. After the poll results, all winning LJP candidates will join the development model of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and form the BJP-LJP government. LJP believes that there should be a BJP-led government in Bihar,” the party said in a statement.
LJP’s Bihar parliamentary board chairman and MLA, Raju Tiwari, said, “LJP will accept a BJP chief minister.” Earlier in the day, party sources said they would adopt the Manipur model where the party had gone to polls alone, but after the results, it supported BJP to form government there.
However, JD(U) may ask BJP to consider removing LJP from the alliance nationally, saying their presence at any level will send a wrong signal among the electorate.
“Wining Bihar is politically crucial not only for JD(U) but also for BJP, which has lost 11 assembly polls since 2014. It can’t happen that LJP remains part of alliance at any level,” a JD(U) functionary said.
If pursued, the demand can put BJP in a quandary because of its need, especially at this juncture, to have a Dalit ally.
In the immediate run, LJP’s exist is likely to clear the way for a 50:50 split of seats between JD(U) and BJP but also has the potential to inject a new complexity in the power-sharing dynamics between the two. As per the understanding the two sides had hammered out, JD(U) is expected to contest 122 seats, leaving the rest 121 for BJP.
However, there are indications to suggest that JD(U) agreed to the suggestion for parity between partners on the assumption that BJP’s actual share would come down to 100 because it would have had to leave a score of seats for LJP, a scenario which would have left no ambiguity as to who is the big brother in the alliance. In the changed situation, however, it is BJP which may end up contesting more seats than JD(U), considering that Nitish Kumar has to accommodate 6-7 candidates belonging to HAM headed by former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Nitish weaned Manjhi, a Dalit, away from the RJD-led rival alliance with a view to buffering himself against any adverse fallout of the feud from Chirag.
Many in JD(U) seem uneasy at the prospect of having to settle for 115-116 seats. Nitish has fortified his status as the “first” in NDA by incrementally getting BJP to concede more seats. His experience during the ill-fated partnership with Lalu Prasad in 2015-2016 when the RJD boss leveraged his superior numbers to play the boss, would have only reinforced his belief in the strategic wisdom to keep an edge.
As it happens, BJP in 2010 stunned him, even itself, with a strike rate significantly better than JD(U)’s. JD(U) managers must be wary of the possibility of a repeat because of Modi’s popularity as also Chirag’s decision to target JD(U) candidates.
LJP is seething with resentment against Bihar CM and will try to mobilize Paswans, a politically conscious community who have a good presence in many constituencies, against JD(U). Although not entirely a monolithic block, a majority of Paswans continue to take their cue from LJP’s founder, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Its strategy is encapsulated in the slogan “Modi se koi bair nahin, Nitish Tumhari Khair Nahin” (We don’t have any grudge against Modi, but we will certainly teach Nitish a lesson), already being raised by the faithfuls.
That explains the suggestion, put forward by certain quarters in JD(U) on Sunday evening that BJP should cede at least 7 more seats for JD(U) so that the latter could accommodate Manjhi.
JD(U) sources, however, agreed that its alliance with the BJP is sealed and the party will not seek any changes in the agreed arrangements.
In any case, BJP was not likely to agree to alter any change in the seat-sharing formula, considering that former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is in -charge of poll preparations, and party general secretary Bhupender Yadav firmly batted aside JD(U)’s insistence to sacrifice seats from the “saffron quota” for 5 sitting RJD MLAs who had recently crossed over.
Though almost all members of the LJP central parliamentary board said they were in favour of the party contesting on 143 seats, the decision will be taken by Chirag.
The decision of the Dalit outfit caused few surprises because it had already snapped ties with JD(U), rendering its presence in the Bihar alliance untenable.
Though party chief Chirag Paswan consistently took pains to emphasise their faith in PM Narendra Modi, BJP, which has already declared Nitish to be its CM choice, found it impossible to meet his demand for 30 seats solely at its expense.
In his parting statement on Sunday, Chirag directed his fire-power at Nitish, stressing once again LJP’s “strong ties” with BJP and that it would remain part of NDA at the national level.
“There is no bitterness between LJP and BJP. After the poll results, all winning LJP candidates will join the development model of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and form the BJP-LJP government. LJP believes that there should be a BJP-led government in Bihar,” the party said in a statement.
LJP’s Bihar parliamentary board chairman and MLA, Raju Tiwari, said, “LJP will accept a BJP chief minister.” Earlier in the day, party sources said they would adopt the Manipur model where the party had gone to polls alone, but after the results, it supported BJP to form government there.
However, JD(U) may ask BJP to consider removing LJP from the alliance nationally, saying their presence at any level will send a wrong signal among the electorate.
“Wining Bihar is politically crucial not only for JD(U) but also for BJP, which has lost 11 assembly polls since 2014. It can’t happen that LJP remains part of alliance at any level,” a JD(U) functionary said.
If pursued, the demand can put BJP in a quandary because of its need, especially at this juncture, to have a Dalit ally.
In the immediate run, LJP’s exist is likely to clear the way for a 50:50 split of seats between JD(U) and BJP but also has the potential to inject a new complexity in the power-sharing dynamics between the two. As per the understanding the two sides had hammered out, JD(U) is expected to contest 122 seats, leaving the rest 121 for BJP.
However, there are indications to suggest that JD(U) agreed to the suggestion for parity between partners on the assumption that BJP’s actual share would come down to 100 because it would have had to leave a score of seats for LJP, a scenario which would have left no ambiguity as to who is the big brother in the alliance. In the changed situation, however, it is BJP which may end up contesting more seats than JD(U), considering that Nitish Kumar has to accommodate 6-7 candidates belonging to HAM headed by former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Nitish weaned Manjhi, a Dalit, away from the RJD-led rival alliance with a view to buffering himself against any adverse fallout of the feud from Chirag.
Many in JD(U) seem uneasy at the prospect of having to settle for 115-116 seats. Nitish has fortified his status as the “first” in NDA by incrementally getting BJP to concede more seats. His experience during the ill-fated partnership with Lalu Prasad in 2015-2016 when the RJD boss leveraged his superior numbers to play the boss, would have only reinforced his belief in the strategic wisdom to keep an edge.
As it happens, BJP in 2010 stunned him, even itself, with a strike rate significantly better than JD(U)’s. JD(U) managers must be wary of the possibility of a repeat because of Modi’s popularity as also Chirag’s decision to target JD(U) candidates.
LJP is seething with resentment against Bihar CM and will try to mobilize Paswans, a politically conscious community who have a good presence in many constituencies, against JD(U). Although not entirely a monolithic block, a majority of Paswans continue to take their cue from LJP’s founder, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Its strategy is encapsulated in the slogan “Modi se koi bair nahin, Nitish Tumhari Khair Nahin” (We don’t have any grudge against Modi, but we will certainly teach Nitish a lesson), already being raised by the faithfuls.
That explains the suggestion, put forward by certain quarters in JD(U) on Sunday evening that BJP should cede at least 7 more seats for JD(U) so that the latter could accommodate Manjhi.
JD(U) sources, however, agreed that its alliance with the BJP is sealed and the party will not seek any changes in the agreed arrangements.
In any case, BJP was not likely to agree to alter any change in the seat-sharing formula, considering that former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is in -charge of poll preparations, and party general secretary Bhupender Yadav firmly batted aside JD(U)’s insistence to sacrifice seats from the “saffron quota” for 5 sitting RJD MLAs who had recently crossed over.
Though almost all members of the LJP central parliamentary board said they were in favour of the party contesting on 143 seats, the decision will be taken by Chirag.
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