After the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), now another constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has served an ultimatum to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to finalise seat sharing by December 31.
Earlier, LJP leader and party MP Chirag Paswan had tweeted to caution the BJP against damage to the NDA in the event of its failure to arrive at a seat-sharing formula soon, which was acceptable to other allies. Party president Ram Vilas Paswan had said that his son Chirag was authorised to take decisions on on seat sharing issues with alliance partners.
“A final decision on seat sharing among the remaining constituents of NDA must be done by December 31…earlier, both the BJP and JD(U) (Janata Dal-United) had distributed 50-50 seats among themselves without taking other constituents in confidence…and lack of clarity on the issue eventually led to the RLSP’s exit,” Bihar State LJP president and Cabinet Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras told journalists in Patna on Wednesday.
Praise for Rahul
Meanwhile, a day after threatening the BJP with “consequences” if seat-sharing arrangement between allies is not fixed in Bihar, Mr. Paswan complimented Congress party President Rahul Gandhi for leading his party to victory in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
“There has definitely been a positive change in him [Rahul Gandhi]. Congress party has won after a long time. You will have to give it to him. If you criticise someone, you should also appreciate them when they perform well. They chose issues well,” Mr. Paswan said on Wednesday.
