Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday expressed confidence that the BJP-led coalition would win the Bihar Assembly polls even as he sought to scotch speculation over his ambition to become the Chief Minister of the State.
Speaking on the sidelines of an inaugural function held at the Bureau of Indian Standards in the suburbs of Hyderabad, Mr. Paswan said that though he was offered the Chief Minister’s office in the past, he had not taken it up. He stressed that his stand had not changed. “I have decided to remain in national politics and not enter State politics. I had refused the office even in the past when Atalji (Atal Bhari Vajpayee) offered me the same,” Mr. Paswan said.
Clarifying that the LJP’s relations with the BJP had not strained despite contradicting speculation, Mr. Paswan said that he was standing by the coalition. The LJP has been in talks with the BJP in New Delhi over seat sharing in Bihar.
Commenting on Rashtriya Janta Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav’s mocking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Rs 1.25-lakh crore package for the State, Mr. Paswan said there was no merit in the comment as it came from Mr. Yadav who is “not more than a jester.”
