The Hindu : No truck with parties allied with BJP or RJD: Paswan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 26, 2003

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No truck with parties allied with BJP or RJD: Paswan

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 25. The Lok Janshakti Party president, Ram Vilas Paswan, today ruled out the possibility of any political alignment with party/parties that had truck with either the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre or with the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar.

Responding to speculation that he might rejoin the National Democratic Alliance, Mr. Paswan said here that his decision to resign from the Atal Behari Vajpayee Cabinet and pull out of the NDA was taken on principle.

"I quit in the wake of the Gujarat riots and the situation has not altered. Now `trishuls' (tridents) are being distributed by people who give an affidavit in the courts that they would not do so,'' he said at a press conference.

He said reports over his political moves and linking his party to the BJP were being spread by some `powerful' forces, which were out to dent his image.

"I had committed a blunder (of aligning with the BJP). It is not going to happen in my lifetime again," he said.

Mr. Paswan reiterated that his party would neither tie up with any outfit that was with the NDA nor a political party that was with the RJD in Bihar. However, he said, in case a non-BJP alternative government was possible at the Centre, his party would play a constructive role.

He said that even after quitting the NDA he had not approached the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, for any tie-up or discussed his political moves with her.

Commenting on the Vajpayee Government's offer of talks with Pakistan, Mr. Paswan supported it and suggested that India should expand friendly ties with other neighbouring nations too.

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