Chirag Paswan to take final call on Bihar poll alliance, says Lok Janshakti Party

Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan (Image: Twitter.com/@ichiragpaswan)

The Bihar parliamentary board meeting of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), that took place on September 7, has decided to defer a decision on whether to contest the upcoming assembly elections with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United ((JDU) or against it.

The board authorised party’s national president Chirag Paswan to take a final call on the issue.

“All the members gave their views on issues including what the party would choose to do with the alliance for the upcoming polls. It has been decided that LJP president Chirag Paswan will take a final call on this,” said Raju Tiwari, member of the LJP’s Bihar Parliamentary board.

The meeting also decided on a list of 143 probable candidates, which will soon be sent for final approval to the party’s Central Parliamentary Board.

The meeting was held on a day when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a virtual campaign for the Bihar assembly elections scheduled later this year.

Led by Chirag Paswan, who is the son of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, the LJP has been at odds with Nitish Kumar over several issues including Kumar’s recent decision to join hands with former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. On September 6, Chirag Paswan wrote another letter to JD(U), accusing the government of failing to provide free land to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities.

Both the JD(U) and LJP are part of the BJP-led NDA alliance at the Centre. While the BJP and JD-U are partners in Bihar, LJP is not a part of the Nitish Kumar’s state government.