The anti-BJP grand alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar will have a tough battle arriving at a seat-sharing formula among its varied constituents, Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan said on Saturday.
He said many conjectures were raised when seat-sharing talks were on between the three partners of the National Democratic Alliance — the BJP, the Janata Dal(U) and his party Lok Janshakti Party — but the issue was settled without complaints from any of three parties.
“Their alliance will look like orange. On the surface of it, they will look together, but once the skin is removed half a dozen of them will all stand distinct and antagonistic to each other,” he said, adding “the gatbandhan [alliance] will turn into lathbandhan [an alliance reached by the force of lathi or stick].”
The grand alliance has the Congress, the Hindustan Awam Morcha led by Jitan Ram Manjhi, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party led by Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, the Loktantrik Janata Dal led by Sharad Yadav, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Left parties. The State has 40 Lok Sabha seats. The RJD will get a major share of the seats. The Congress is now expecting a larger number of seats than it was originally targeting at.
“Look, at what is already happening. After the BJP and the JD(U) divided the seats equally between themselves, now the Congress also wants to be an equal partner. By the time they reach an arrangement, their cadres will be at each other’s throat,” Mr. Paswan said.
Quota Bill
He said the RJD would have to bear the brunt for opposing the Narendra Modi government’s legislation promising 10% quota in jobs and educational institutes to economically backward among the forward castes. “Their own party is divided on the issue. In the Rajya Sabha, Misa Bharati and other MPs were abusing me when I rose to speak on the Bill, but now their own senior leader Raghuvansh Prasad has stood up in support of it,” Mr. Paswan said.
He was dismissive of the recent efforts by the Opposition parties to come together at various platforms against the Amit Shah-Narendra Modi combine.
“BSP president Mayawati is dreaming of being the Prime Minister in 2019, when she does not have a single member in the present Lok Sabha,” he said. The Opposition rally organised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was nothing but a congregation of “crowd-hungry” leaders.
